可爱的海宝“逗”得大山合不拢嘴

上海世博会加拿大馆

大山又来上海了，在他成为上海世博会加拿大政府总代表不久。走马上任一个月，大山马不停蹄，穿梭于渥太华、北京与上海间。

    这次在上海仅停留两天，他抓紧时间，物色住所准备明年三月举家迁沪，考察加拿大馆进展，同时不忘清晨七点出去“遛遛弯”，打量这座城市里最真实、最感动他的情景。

此刻的大山坐在窗边，神清气爽，脸上看不出丝毫倦意。“梦想又将启程了”，他难掩喜悦之情。这位有着“过人的喜剧天才与熟练的语言技巧”的加拿大人，将再次挑战自己，成为中加两国交流的使者。

新的梦想

    初见大山，就仿佛见一位老朋友。他会和你分享清晨出去遛弯的所见所闻，并透露，自己已然开始担忧，“上海世博会闭幕后是否会产生一种无所适从的感觉”。

    二十年前一个电视小品，将“马克·罗斯维尔”变成了“大山”。相声演员、英语教师、节目主持人、北京市“十大杰出青年”、电视剧《宫廷画师朗世宁》和话剧《红星照耀中国》的主演……中国人早已不把这位外国人当“外人”看了。

    物色大山在上海的新家，人家想帮他安排个得天独厚的位置，比如要离超市近点，他则没太多要求，打哈哈地笑着说，“只要告诉我菜市场在哪儿就成了……”

    “亲眼目睹中国，亲身投入这里的生活”，大山一坚持就是二十多年，乃至在中国家喻户晓。他喜爱自由，曾经说过“演员不是我的职业，我不靠说相声谋生”。一直以来，他的工作横跨文化、教育、商贸、公益、外交等多个领域，游刃有余，并享受其中。如今，突然从一个民间交流者转身为政府官员，用他自己的话来说，是从“自由职业者到大机关里的一员”，他自己回想起来都感到惊愕，并心存感激。

    事实上，文化交流使者是大山对自己的一个定位，他一直希望能搭建起中加两国交流的桥梁。所以，只要是对此有益的，他都愿意去尝试。2008年，他担任了北京奥运会加拿大代表国特使，这是他许久以来的一个梦想，顺利实现了。2010年，他的第二个梦想开始了。

“我不想淡化我自身的特质”

    大山做什么事都百分百地投入，他的诚意也打动了很多人。当初开排话剧《红星照耀中国》前，大山和主创人员一起到延安采风。与此同时，他还积极为迎接北京奥运作各种准备，担任了北京电视台《通向2008》节的嘉宾主持人，在北京奥运会主题口号公布那天，他来到北京王府井大街主持现场活动，和市民共同喊出“同一个世界，同一个梦想”。

    作为上海世博会加拿大政府总代表，上任第一天，大山就去了世博园区加拿大馆的施工现场，显然对展馆进度颇为满意。他还来往各地，结识新同事，补习世博知识，并联系上海世博会加拿大形象大使艾薇儿，希望她明年来世博园区演出……大山是中国通，而加拿大副总代表是世博通，两者可谓最佳搭档，合作也非常愉快。并且，大山在1 967年，也就是他两岁的时候，居然还去蒙特利尔看过加拿大举办的那届世博会。“只可惜当时太小，什么都不记得了。”

    还有这么一段插曲。大山刚上任，加拿大文化遗产部部长见到他就提了一个问题，问大山：“作为总代表，最让他睡不着觉的是什么？”大山一想，也不难，就是加拿大馆预计吸引五百多万的参观者，平均一天容纳三万人左右，如果来了五万人，甚至是更多人怎么办？大山头脑里在算这么一笔账：在历届世博会上，加拿大馆吸引15％左右的参观者。上海世博会7000万人次的15％就有一千多万人次了。这也成为大山和加拿大馆设计团队正在策划研究的问题之一。

    大山颇有信心，加拿大曾有两次成功举办世博会的经验，一切均成竹在胸。

    他想做的，是全身心投入总代表工作，并不忘记让大山曾经的影子不时“跑”进来。他已经开始酝酿了，加拿大馆内将拍摄推介加拿大的影视短片，大山希望自己能以演员身份出现，发挥自己喜剧方面的特质。他还在考虑作为一名总代表是否要开博，网上世博会创作一个三维虚拟的“大山”，带大家游虚拟加拿大馆。

    “我会全身心投入总代表工作，但我不希望自己仅仅是以一名外交官的形象出现，我不想淡化我本身的特色。”大山这样认为。

《上海世博》杂志：作为中国最知名的加拿大人，您出任上海世博会加拿大总代表有何感想?

大山：成为上海世博会加拿大政府总代表是非常荣耀的事情，这将是我人生中非常重要的一段经历。上海世博会是继北京奥运会后最为重要的全球盛事，我一直想参与其中，所以我也是非常欣喜地获得这样一个激动人心的任命，获得一次全新的体验。由于经常表演相声、主持电视节目，在很多中国人的印象中我是个笑星，或者电视节目主持人，但是，我绝不只是这些，我总是在尽力改变人们对自己的这个印象，一直致力于中加两国文化的交流，我更愿意被看作中加文化的使者。

《上海世博》杂志：加拿大馆展馆设计和和布展工作都由太阳马戏协助进行，太阳马戏团是世界上久负盛名的马戏团之一，参与世博会，他们将如何演绎上海世博会主题，如何体现其特色?

大山：太阳马戏，其实，他们更愿意被称作为“太阳剧团”，一直被誉为加拿大“国宝”。他们每年在国际上要举行几十场演出，两年前也曾来上海演出过。由于太阳剧团的加入，加拿大馆的展览和展示活动将极具表演性，带给参观者耳目一新的感觉。这也是和历届相比的过人之处。具体展示内容目前还在筹划中，还需保持神秘性。

《上海世博》杂志：历年来发布的“全球最适合生活城市”排行榜，加拿大温哥华几次荣登榜首，其他几个城市也位列前茅。在此次以城市为主题的世博会上，加拿大将如何交流成功经验?

大山：我想说这个主题很好，并且非常适合加拿大。加拿大80％的人口居住在城市，对如何建设更加宜居的城市，让生活更美好，我们拥有非常丰富的经验，温哥华、多伦多、卡尔加里等加拿大城市都是世界知名的宜居城市。上海世博会上，我们将尽力展示我们在这方面的智慧和取得的成就，包括城市的包容性、城市与自然的联系以及城市的创新，同时，我们也将虚心学习其他国家取得的成果和经验。

《上海世博》杂志：您会如何向加拿大人讲述或推介上海世博会?

大山：向加拿大人讲述上海世博会对中国的重要意义，其实很简单，只要告诉他们上海世博会与加拿大建国100周年时举办的蒙特利尔世博会相似，他们就立刻明白上海世博会就是中国经过快速发展后逐步走向成熟的里程碑。1967年蒙特利尔世博会在科技领域为人们开拓了新的视野。与此同时，它使蒙特利尔和魁北克开始向世界开放，20世纪60年代是蒙特利尔城市快速发展的重要时期。

    最后，大山并还不忘“吆喝”：“我希望所有的西方人都能有机会来中国看看，一生有这么一两次，上海世博会恰好是最佳的时机。”

During the first month of his appointment, Dashan has been busy traveling between Ottawa, Beijing and Shanghai.

 In his most recent, two-day stay in Shanghai, he made full use of the time to look for a place for his family to live next March. He also checked in on the progress at Canada Pavilion, and rook the opportunity to "go for a walk" at seven o'clock in the morning to observe the most real and touching scenes of this city.

"The journey of a dream is now about to sail again" he said. You can tell from the look on Dashan's face that he is filled with joy. With extraordinary talent and proficient language skills, this Canadian continues to be an ambassador for China-Canada relations.

New Dream

It's like meeting an old friend when one first mocks Dashan. He starts sharing what he saw and heard during his morning walk, and he begins worrying, "whether there will be a at-loose-ends feeling when the Expo closes".

20 years ago, a televised sketch turned Mark Rowswell into Dashan. Xiangsheng actor, English teacher, television show host, one of ten "Outstanding Youth of Beijing"... Dashan has long been regarded as one of their own by the Chinese people.

 "I want to see for myself what China is like, and truly experience the way of life here."

Dashan has now experienced life here for over 20 years, and has become a household name. During this time, his work has encompassed culture, education, Commerce, public welfare, diplomacy and other fields, lie has been handled these tasks quite skillfully and easily, and at the same time has enjoyed his work. After being a non-governmental exchange facilitator, he is now a government official and feels surprised and grateful in retrospect.

As a matter of fact, Dashan positions himself as a cultural exchange ambassador, and he has longed to bridge the communication and exchange gap between the two countries. Therefore, as long as his activities help to achieve those goals, he is willing to try. In 2008, Dashan served as Canadian Team Attach for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and thus one of his long-cherished dreams was realized. The year 2010 will witness the beginning of his second dream.

 "I don't want to obscure my character."

Dashan always gives it a hundred percent no matter what he does, and this determination as well as his sincerity has touched a lot of people. As Canada's Commissioner General for Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Dashan went to the construction site of Canada Pavilion in Expo site the first day of his appointment. He was very satisfied with the progress on the pavilion, he travelled back and forth to meet new colleagues and gain knowledge of the Expo. He contacted Avril Lavigne, the Canadian Ambassador for Expo 2010, and invited her to perform in Expo site next year. Dashan is confident that everything will be well prepared for Canada's Expo hosting experience.

Dashan wants to be absorbed in the work of Commissioner General and, at the same time, incorporate his well known character's image into the Expo. He has already started to ferment a plan. Inside Canada Pavilion, a short video will be shown to advertise the country. Dashan hopes he can appear as an actor to give full play to his talents for comedy. He is also thinking about whether he, as Commissioner General, should start a blog, and have a 3D virtual "Dashan" guide visitors through the online Canada Pavilion at Expo Shanghai Online.

"I will give 100% effort to my job as Commissioner General, but I hope that 'diplomat' will not be the only image people have of me, and I don't want to obscure my character," Dashan contends.

Expo 2010 Shanghai: As the most famous foreigner in China, what did you feel when you were appointed Canada's Commissioner General for Expo 2010?

Dashan: It's a great honour to be Canada's Commissioner General for Expo 2010, and this experience will be very important in my life. Expo 2010 is another most important international event after the Beijing Olympics. I've always wanted to be part of it, so I was thrilled when I received such an exciting appointment and a chance at a brand-new experience. I'd rather be looked upon as a cultural ambassador between China and Canada.

Expo 2010 Shanghai: The design and preparation of Canada Pavilion are all coordinated by Cirque Du Soleil, which is one of the world's most famous circuses. How can Cirque Du Soleil demonstrate the theme of Expo 2010 while retaining the characteristics it is famous for?

Dashan: Cirque Du Soleil has been regarded as Canada's "national treasure". Every year they put on scores of shows around the world, and they also came to Shanghai two years ago. With their support, the exhibitions at Canada Pavilion will be quite performance-oriented, giving people new and exciting emotions. This is the best part compared with past Expo exhibitions. The specific showcase is still at the planning stage, and we want to keep it secret.

Expo 2010 Shanghai: in recent years, Vancouver has many times been ranked at the top of the "World's Best City to Live" list, and some other Canadian cities are also ranked in leading positions, in this city-themed Expo, what will Canada do to share its successful experiences?

Dashan: I'd say it's a great theme and suits Canada quite well. Eighty percent of the Canadian population lives in cities. We have abundant experience in how to build a better city to live and create better life. We will try our best to show our wisdom and achievements in this regard and also learn other countries' achievements and experiences at Expo 2010.

Expo 2010 Shanghai: How would you introduce or promote Expo 2010 to the Canadians?

Dashan: It's quite simple to tell the Canadians what Expo 2010 means to China. I just need to tell them this event is similar to Expo Montreal, held at the 100th anniversary of the founding of Canada, and they will understand that Expo 2010 is the milestone, marking China's maturity after years of fast development.

In closing, Dashan seizes the opportunity to "advertise" for the Expo: "I hope all westerners can come and visit China once or twice in their lives, and Expo 2010 will be the best time for them to come."