Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
issue date

Dr. Rob Leveillee
October 22, 2003

What a sincere pleasure it is for me to extend to you my congratulations on this, the first "birthday" of Common Talk. Over this past year, your many appreciative readers, myself included, have enjoyed the experience of watching the weekly feature of Common-Talk grow from an idea, into a one-page series of articles and then into its current, expanded format. Thanks to your collective efforts, this past year we've been able to meet fascinating visitors (who roller-blade through Xiamen), enjoy exotic places (thanks to Leslie Kirby's description of Sri Lanka), enjoy "food experiences, (Thanks to Bill Brown, and Tony Mueller). Thanks to the fine articles on Chinese customs, we've also come to appreciate that we do, indeed, have much "in common". In addition to the many entertaining articles that have appeared, Common Talk has also provided us with useful and important information. I was particularly appreciative of SARS related information that you provided to the community early this year.

On a personal note, I clearly remember the afternoon that YaYu Wu, Chief Editor, visited my office to discuss with me the possibility of assisting The Xiamen Daily, with a new "English Language" section of the newspaper, designed to bring our local and expatriates readers together in spirit. On that afternoon we agreed that as fortunate residents of Xiamen, we had much in common and that such a new section would give us a chance to share our ideas, thoughts, and hopes. In a way, it would be a place where, in print, we could "talk" about life together, a life in common, and there it was in front of us, the name of the new section would be "Common Talk."

Once again, congratulations to the Xiamen Daily, to the staff of Common Talk and to the many contributing writers who have helped to transform an idea into an exciting and prosperous reality.

Oh, and of course, "Happy Birthday!"

我非常高兴为双语周刊的周年庆典表达我的祝贺之情。在过去的一年里，我们这群极其欣赏双语周刊的读者，确确实实享受着双语周刊的每一期，尤其看着双语从最 初的一个想法演变为一张报纸，及所做的系列报道，再到今天的扩版。由于你们的不懈努力，过去的一年，我们才能够接触到如此之多令人振奋的、盘踞鹭岛的顶级 人物；领略异国风情（特别是对斯里兰卡的描述）；享受了Bill Brown和Tony Mueller带来的美食与盛宴，还有对中华民俗的精彩介绍，我们感到无比荣幸我们有如此之多相同之处。除了这些娱乐大餐，双语周刊还提供了既实用而重要 的资讯。尤其是今年你们为大众提供的非典病情的相关信息，我非常满意你们的作法。

就我个人而言，我还清楚地记得，那个下午，双语周刊的主编来到我的办公室，和我探讨协助厦门日报创办英文版的可能性，以期能为厦门本土与外籍人士带来精神 大餐。还是那个下午，我们达成了共识，那就是身为厦门的一员，我们是如此的幸运，拥有诸多共识，而全新的英文版将为我们提供新天地，让我们一起分享想法与 希望。我们可以汇聚一堂，探讨我们共同的生活，而且这还将铅印成册。而全新英文版的名字就叫做″Common Talk″。

再一次，祝贺厦门日报和双语周刊的全体成员，以及那些辛勤耕耘的作者，有了他们，才让一个想法变成了令人兴奋的现实，前景无限。当然，不忘说一声“生日快 乐”。