2001年，那是我第一次來中国海宁旅行。那时，我还在澳洲悉尼的一所皮革化工厂工作。我在悉尼当地（我的居住地）有认识一位德国的朋友，他告诉我，他正在浙江海宁的卡森公司工作并且分享了工作上的收获和与之带来的自豪感。得知此事，我毅然决然地飞往上海，想要一睹那家公司的风采。一下飞机，我马上打了辆出租车直达海宁。我在中国的旅行，就在海宁拉开了序幕……

一年以后，应卡森先生邀请，我入职于浙江卡森实业集团有限公司。在公司里，我负责建设汽车皮革业务关系，也协助开拓海外国际汽车制造市场。通过引导汽车行业“走出去”，提升公司的国内外影响力，实现企业效益最大化，推动海宁的地方经济。

刚到中国的那会儿，对我来说，一切都是如此的陌生，我不习惯这里的饮食，也不理解当地的语言，这些都和我曾居住的澳洲悉尼有着无尽的差异。一段时间后，我的中文仍然说得不好，但是美食的力量让我逐渐地适应了这里的生活。

后来，我在海宁有了自己的家庭。2002年的一天，我在上海遇见了一位名叫凯莉的女士。七年以后，我和她在海宁结了婚，她成为了我的妻子。如今，我们的女儿已经8岁了，在读小学三年级。在家里，妻子经常做中国菜，有时，我也会做几道西餐展示自己的手艺。这些年，我们一家逐步感受到海宁的风土人情，见证了它的种种变化，也期盼着它走向更现代化的未来。

2005年，我开办了一间小酒吧，这多亏了海宁市政府外商投资部门的扶持。与此同时，我仍在卡森公司工作，但他们对于我这开酒吧的决定十分支持。

这18年以来，我都住在海宁。即使如此，我还是会惊叹于每日发生的变化。在我这个外国人眼里，这儿生活环境宜人，美食文化多元，更为惊喜的是，伴随着浙江大学新校区的落成，其他区域也在共同发展，新楼拔地而起、老城区整修维护等，城市的面貌焕然一新。同时，海宁的道路交通情况优良，有合理的公路设计规划，交通安全也都相应配套了，没有出现如中国其他大城市严峻的交通堵塞问题。另外，此处的营商环境也令人印象深刻，想必是海宁市政府大力支持商业发展的缘故，厂家有更多的便利和机会，也能达到多方共赢的效果。

当然了，除了中国海宁这个地方，我也去过多个其他城市，要说印象深刻的，那就是杭州和安吉的自然美景。行走在坊间的几个小时里，我穿梭于这些古老的木制建筑，脑海中想象着的是它一千多年以前的模样。

话又说回来，海宁是我打心底里乐意居住的城市。在这里，我有了家，有了女儿，有了归宿。我也可以骄傲地说，我将酒吧从原址移到新址的同时，也尽可能地扩展了业务。现如今，绿洲啤酒厂和牛排餐厅正在蓬勃发展，对于当地人而言，这同样是个喜讯。作为第一家微型啤酒场，我们把真正的精酿啤酒引入海宁，让当地人品尝到了更地道的精酿啤酒，更好地服务了这些客户群体。它自然而无任何添加剂，你可以直观的感受到，海宁当地人对于这精酿啤酒的喜爱！

现如今，我已经从皮革企业退休了，开始专注于经营我在海宁开的餐馆与酒吧。我鼓励合作伙伴引进新的菜肴和理念，让经营模式更有吸引力和竞争力。现代和先进有着无穷无尽的魅力，新的模式会让餐馆与酒吧迸发新鲜的血液，海宁也会焕发新的活力。

我十分乐意留在浙江海宁，期待见证着它下一个18年的变化。

（本文由实习生周翼双整理，感谢马克提供照片素材）

Surprising Haining

I first traveled to Haining in 2001. I was working for a leather chemical company and had heard from my German friend in Sydney （where I was living at the time）， about a company called Kasen that he was working with so I flew to Shanghai and jumped in a taxi to head for Haining. This was the start of my Chinese journey. I joined Kasen one year later at the invitation of Mr. Kasen to help set up an automotive leather operation and to help with opening up doors to the international car manufacturers overseas. My first impressions of Haining were mixed， as I was quite new to China I was not used to the food and understood none of the language. My Chinese language skills are still poor but I soon got used to Chinese food！ The local people are very friendly and it was easy to become comfortable.

I met my future wife Kelly in Shanghai in 2002 and we married 7 years later in Haining. Now we have an 8 year old daughter who is now in Year 3 at school.  Kelly cooks Chinese food at home and sometimes I cook western food as well.  We are lucky to have our own restaurant where we can also eat together！

I set up my own little bar in 2005 with the help of the Haining government foreign investment department. I was still working for Kasen and they were very supportive for me to do it as I felt there was a business opportunity in Haining for a truly western style bar with western food due to the many foreigners doing business in Haining

I have lived in Haining now for more than 18 years. It always amazes me to see all the changes that take place on an almost daily basis. In the eye of a foreigner， the living environment is very pleasant， there are plenty of restaurants to visit， and the development of areas such as the new Zhejiang University campus is spectacular.  Traffic on the roads is still reasonable without the huge traffic jams experienced in the bigger cities of China. The business environment is impressive with a government that is very supportive to business development. I have traveled to many cities in China. Hangzhou and Anji are two places that I enjoyed especially for their natural beauty; Wuzhen was for me a fascinating experience seeing the real old China in such a beautiful setting. I walked for hours amongst the old wooden buildings imagining what it must have been like more than a thousand years ago. My daughter loves to stay in hotels when we travel but they must have a swimming pool as she loves to swim whenever she can.

Haining is the city I am happy to return to. I have made my home here， my daughter was born here and I am proud to say that since the early days of setting up my bar I have changed location and greatly expanded the business. Now the Oasis Brewery & Steakhouse has flourished. Since we have introduced real craft beer to Haining， we as the first micro-brewery have seen that the Haining locals also appreciate the natural， additive-free taste of real craft beer！

Now I have retired from the leather business and focus on my restaurant and bar business and support my partners to introduce new dishes， ideas and concepts to keep our business interesting and competitive. I am happy to stay in Haining and look forward to seeing all the changes in the next 18 years. I believe that the Oasis Steakhouse and Brewery will continue to play an important role in Haining not only as a hub for foreigners and Chinese to get together， socialize and find new business contacts and opportunities but also by contributing to Hainings international image.