The Chinese Dream of the American Fellow丨美国小伙的中国梦
It is kind of surprising to hear authentic Henan slangs such as “Gan sha” (what are you doing), “zhong a” (very well), “ke hao le” (awesome) from a fair-haired and blue-eyed foreigner. Kenton Lorman Van first came to Henan four years ago, and came here again one and half years ago. Now he often appears on TV shows and vblogs as guest. Not only does he speak good Chinese, he also speaks authentic Henan dialect. He loves Chinese culture, and has profound feelings for Zhengzhou. He is known by a handsome Chinese name: Ye Fengguang.
“干啥”“中啊”“可好了”……这些地道的河南话，从眼前这位金发碧眼的老外口中说出，让人有些惊奇。4年前Kenton第一次到河南，一年半前再次来到郑州生活至今，这个老外作为嘉宾频繁出现在电视和视频的节目中，不仅说一口流利的中文，河南话更是被赞很地道。他热爱中国文化，对郑州更是感情深厚，他还有一个好听的中文名字——叶风光。
source：河南电视台《你最有才》
Born in 1988, Kenton was raised in Milwaukee in Wisconsin. After he arrived in China in 2014, he left for a village in Henan, because he found megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou “too global with so many foreigners”. That’s not the “real China” he intended to learn about.
美国人Kenton(叶风光)1988 年出生在美国威斯康辛州的密尔沃基。2014 年，他第一次来到中国，就选择来到河南的一个农村。因为北上广一线城市对于他来说，“太多老外，太国际化”，并不是他想要了解的“real China”。
The name “Ye Fengguang” (the literal meaning of the three characters are leaf, wind and light) has its origin in China. In his first week in China, Kenton went to a park for square dance. Although he could not understand Chinese at all, he remembered an elder woman’s words to him “Look! This foreigner is so fengguang (spirited).” He did not come to understand what “fengguang” means before half a year passed. He told his friends back in the States “Winds (feng) blow a leaf (ye) to every corner of the world. It is its dream to shed light (guang) on others and help them achieve their dreams.” This is why he named himself as “Ye Fengguang”.
而“叶风光”这个中文名字，和中国很有缘分。来中国的第一个礼拜，Kenton(叶风光)去当地公园跳广场舞，虽然他听不懂一句中文，只记得一个大妈对他说：“耶，这个老外好风光!”过了大半年，他才知道“风光”的意思。他跟美国的朋友说，“叶子被风吹着在全世界旅游，梦想是给别人光，帮助别人实现梦想”，所以他就给自己取了“叶风光”这个中文名。
Kenton made a bunch of friends during his stay in China who equipped him with a better understanding of Chinese culture. “I met Li Xing when I just arrived in China. He treated me to Zhengzhou Huimian (handstretched wide Noodles, a local specialty) and spicy soup. He played basketball with me. At first I thought he was a rich man. Later I knew he was hospitable rather than wealthy.” After they met, Kenton helped Li Xing with English while Li helped Kenton with Chinese. The two became inseparable friends.
在中国的日子里，叶风光认识了很多朋友，这让他对中国文化理解更深。“刚到中国的时候，有个叫李星的中国哥们出现了，他天天请我吃烩面、喝胡辣汤，还陪我打篮球，我开始以为他很有钱，后来才知道他只是好客。”后来，叶风光教李星英语，李星教叶风光中文，后来他们就成了形影不离的好哥们。
“You have no idea what a good friend is like until you have a good Chinese friend”, commented Kenton on his Chinese friend. After one year’s stay in Henan, Kenton left China for South America.
“你不知道好朋友是什么，直到你有了一个中国好朋友。”叶风光这样评价他的中国朋友。在河南待了一年后，叶风光去了南美。
Kenton came back to Zhengzhou in the summer of 2016 with another dream. He wrote a book titled Kenton Lion Heart when he was travelling around, recounting a young boy’s story of bravely chasing his dream. The book has been published in the U.S. and Thailand. Earlier this year, an English-Chinese bilingual version came out in China as well. Kenton said the book was his gift to Zhengzhou people because they helped him fulfill his dream.
2016 年夏天，叶风光带着他的另外一个梦想回到郑州。在全世界游历的时间里，叶风光写了一本书 《勇敢的心》，讲述了一个小男孩勇敢追梦的故事，在美国、泰国已经分别出版。今年初，这本书的中英双语版也在中国出版。叶风光说，这本书是他给郑州人的礼物，感谢郑州人帮助他实现梦想。
So far, Kenton has been living in Henan for more than two years. He has already regarded Zhengzhou as his second hometown. And he calls himself “Henanese”. Kenton often travels around China, and has met a lot of people. When people ask him why they could sense a hint of “Henanese” in his Mandarin, Kenton would reply, “I am from Zhengzhou. I am Henanese. Zhengzhou is my hometown in China.”
如今，叶风光在河南生活了2 年多的时间，他早已把郑州当成自己的第二故乡，称自己是个“河南人”。叶风光时常全中国各地跑，一些外地朋友会问他：“为啥你的中文有股‘河南味’?”叶风光会回答：“我来自郑州，我是河南人，我在中国的老家就是郑州。”
As for why he is keen on Zhengzhou, Kenton said when he first came to China he was clueless about everything. It is in Henan that he learned the ABC of living in China—from usage of chopsticks to language and culture. Therefore, he feels grateful to Henan and Zhengzhou. “Zhengzhou people are my teachers. I won't become who I am without them”, said Kenton.
之所以这么热爱郑州，叶风光说，刚到中国，他什么都不懂，从文化、语言到用筷子全是在这里养成的生活习惯。他感谢河南，感谢郑州，他说：“郑州人是我的老师，没有郑州人，就没有现在的我。”
Kenton takes pride in Zhengzhou at any time in any place: “Zhengzhou is sure to be an even more awesome city. I wish the city continuous progress.”
任何时候，任何地点，叶风光都不忘表达他为郑州而感到骄傲：“郑州未来一定会成为一个更厉害的城市，我祝福郑州越来越好。”
