Happy Monk创始人Jeremy一段中国八十年代的美好回忆

       Jeremy Sargent，The Happy Monk 连锁西餐吧创始人,在中国生活多年的他，算是半个中国通。早在上个世纪80年代，出于孩童时对汉字的着迷，他来到中国学习语言和文化。在这篇文章里， Jeremy正是分享了那时候他作为第一批英国留学生在上海的难忘经历。就这样，人生中总有一些记忆的高光时刻，它们那么与众不同，让人刻骨铭心。

    Jeremy Sargent, Founder & Proprietor of The Happy Monk, is no stranger to China.  An early fascination with Chinese characters when a young boy resulted in Jeremy coming to China back in the 1980s to study the language and culture. Jeremy shares some of his memories from that special time in his life.  

      人生有时很奇妙。前几天的一个晚上，我一个人坐在The Happy Monk建五店里等着我的外卖晚餐，因为疫情管控的原因不开放堂食，平日里人头涌动的店里空荡荡的，也恰好给了我一段宁静的时光，忽然在记忆中的一个时刻击中了我。

      最奇妙的是，也恰好是 34 年前的今天——1987 年 6 月 18 日。那天深夜，我坐在上海一家名为“Chez Louis”的酒吧里，灯光灰暗、烟雾缭绕。这家小酒吧隐藏在老锦江酒店附近的一条安静后街上一个狭小的地下室里，大约可容纳 20 人。“Chez Louis”是上海第一家私营酒吧，几周前刚刚开业。老板Louis是一位勇敢且富有冒险精神的年轻人，多年来一直梦想经营一家自己的酒吧，而那时候他的梦想刚刚实现。Louis对自己踏入创业的征程感到既紧张又兴奋，他是中国最早的创业者之一。在之后的四十年，千万中国人先后踏上了这一旅程，给社会带来了翻天覆地的变化。

    Life can be strange at times.  The other night, I was sitting in an empty Happy Monk Jianwu (no customers allowed thanks to COVID!!l) waiting for my takeaway dinner when I had a sudden flashback – to a time 34 years ago.  And what’s really strange is that it was 34 years ago to the very day – 18th June 1987.  On that day, I was sat late at night in a dark and smoky bar in Shanghai called “Chez Louis”.  A small basement dive – with seating for perhaps 20 people, tucked down a quiet backstreet near the old Jing Zhang Hotel.  “Chez Louis” was the very first privately-owned bar in Shanghai which had just opened a few weeks earlier. The boss, Louis, an adventurous and brave young chap had dreamt for years about running his own bar – and his dream had finally come true. He was both visibly nervous and excited about his first step into entrepreneurship – being a pioneer on his first steps on a journey which millions would subsequently take and which would lead to the enormous changes we have seen in China over the past four decades.  

 1980年的黄埔江 Huangpu River in the 1980s

      那对我来说绝对是一个难以忘怀的夜晚，因为那是我作为一名国际学生在中国的最后一天。19岁，我跳出了自己的舒适圈，来到一个遥远而陌生的国家，度过了奇妙又独特的一年。我和我的英国的同学并排坐着，手里拿着上海的本地啤酒，幸运的作为最早来中国学习的一批英国学生，刚过去的这一年对我们来说简直令人难以置信。

    That was a memorable night for me also – as it marked my very last day as a foreign student in China, the end of an amazing and unique year spent as an impressionable 19-year-old living in another world completely outside my normal comfort zone. Sat clutching glasses of the local Shanghai beers, my British classmates and I reminisced about the incredible and fortunate year we had just finished – being one of the earliest groups of British students to study in China.

     /到达上海 Arriving in Shanghai/

      坐在The Happy Monk的时候，我回想，是什么让那一年如此特别？也经常有人问我，在中国留学期间印象最深刻的是什么？说实话，这真是一个很难回答的问题。因为那段日子里有太多难忘的回忆了，有些时刻即使时至今日，依然历历在目。 

      我的第一个印象深刻的记忆是到达上海。那天晚上，我们这群英国利兹大学的交换学生经过了漫长的长途飞行，从香港转机最终抵达旧虹桥机场。我现在还清楚地记得我们穿越上海市区达到位于五角场的复旦大学的整个过程。当时的每个人都黑乎乎的。只有部分街道上亮着路灯，一些奇怪的行人和几辆自行车，除此之外到处都是黑乎乎的。晚上9点，上海所有的地方都关门了，路上几乎没有车辆，也很少有人出门。我走进了一个完全不同的世界。

    Whilst sat in the Happy Monk, I thought about what made that year so special. I am often asked what were my strongest memories from those times as a student in China.  It’s never the easiest question to answer – there are literally so many memories from those days. Many have faded while others are almost as vivid today as they were back then.

    My first memory was our arrival in Shanghai. After a long journey via Hong Kong, our group of Leeds University exchange students arrived one evening at the old Hongqiao Airport.  I remember vividly the journey across town to Fudan University in Wujiaochang.  Everyone was completely dark. A few street flickering street lights, the odd person here and there, a few bicycles – but otherwise darkness. By 9pm at night, Shanghai had all but closed down for the day. Nowhere was open, few vehicles were on the roads and few people ventured out.  It felt like stepping into a completely different world.  

      到达复旦大学校园，我们像军训一样列队站着，每个人分到了各自的房间钥匙、打饭的铁碗，或许这里最重要环节是，我们都“分”到了一个中文名字。带我们的朱老师为人很和气，她简直是现场起名的天才，到我的时候，我说起我的名字是“Jeremy”，她立即给我起名“赵利民”，发音相似，还有“人民的帮手”这样好的寓意。从那时候开始，直至今日，我依然对这个名字很满意，尽管后来经常有人对我说这个名字老土又太具有革命意味，但我永远不会忘记它的含义和来源。

    Arriving at Fudan University Campus – we lined up military style, received our room key, our metal bowl for the canteen and, perhaps most importantly, we were “assigned” our Chinese names.  Our wonderful and kind teacher, Ms Zhu, was an expert at choosing Chinese names on the spot.  I came to the front of the queue, explained my name was “Jeremy” – she immediately replied with “Zhaolimin” (赵利民), phonetically similar and “Helper of the People”. From that moment on, and to this very day, despite being often told my name is “old fashioned” and “revolutionary in spirit”, I am very proud of this name and will never forget its  origins.

      那个年代，想要在城里四处逛逛只有两种选择。那时没有地铁、没有出租车，全上海只有17辆私家车。这意味着你要么像罐头里的沙丁鱼一样挤上一辆电动车，要么坐三轮车在城里狂飙，而我们通常选择后者。通常我们 3-4 个人会十分有技巧地挤上一辆三轮车，在繁忙的时间里在街道上穿梭。我们手里拿着啤酒，大声放着音乐，高声欢笑，路过的骑自行车的人们都很惊讶地看着我们，估计是从没见过那么疯狂的场面。我们最喜欢玩的特技是边走边换人开车，对于满载的三轮车来说，听起来简单，但实际操作起来却全然不同， ——我们身上那些讨厌的划痕和擦伤都可以证明。而这些简单的时刻，让人感到生活的真实和美好。

    Getting around town in those days – there were two options.  Remember there was no underground, basically no taxis and only 17 private cars in the whole of Shanghai!  It meant either scrambling onto an electric trolley bus – human sardines in a tin – which was always fun – or racing around town in a three wheeled tricycle (三轮车), We would normally choose the latter. Often 3-4 of us would skillfully pile onto the one tricycle, riding through the busy rush hour streets, cans of beer in hand, music playing loud and lots of laughter, thronged by dozens of curious cyclists who had probably seen nothing like it before. Our favorite stunt was swapping drivers without stopping – which, on a fully loaded tricycle sounds easy but certainly isn’t.  A few nasty scratches and scrapes bear testament to that. However, these are the simple moments you feel alive and cherish.  

      当时，我们有的一项特权是拥有中国室友。在那个年代，外国人和中国人大多是分隔开的，所以我们很幸运，我们有了一个结识同龄人、学习语言和交流不同生活经历的好机会。我们和室友度过了很多个美好的夜晚，喝啤酒、吃瓜子、聊天。我慢慢意识到即便我们的世界迥然不同，有着不同的人生经历和生活方式，但作为年轻人，我们本质上是一样的。对于生活的需求，思考的方式，感受世界的方式，我们都是一样的。我现在经常想起那群中国室友，不知道他们现在过得如何，特别是我的室友Xiao Zhou。我曾计划去查找他的联系方式，比如通过大学的通讯录等等，但最终没有实施。所以，Xiao Zhou，如果你碰巧看到这篇文章，请一定要联系我！

     上海真是既迷人又令人兴奋的，它有着浓厚的历史感。而在 1987 年，它正处于重大变革的风口上。

     Shanghai was fascinating and exciting.  A strong sense of history – and, back in 1987, a feeling of being on the cusp of a momentous transformation.  

       我在伦敦长大，对于想要什么样生活一向是我个人的选择。而那时的上海并不这样。如今，我们不断为之烦恼的许多人生决定也许并不是真正的选择。住在哪里、学什么专业、做什么工作，甚至和谁结婚，通常都不基于个人的意愿。对我来说，这让我很不自由，也感到很不舒服。而对我的室友和中国朋友来说，却很正常——这意味着他们生活中的烦恼少了。在当今世界，我们经常淹没在各种各样的选择当中，而这其中许多是不必要做的，甚至对我们毫无益处。我的确有时会反思，一个更简单、更少选择的生活是否真的会给人们带来更少的压力和更多的幸福？

      Growing up in London, life had all been about individual choices. No so in Shanghai back then. Many of the life decisions we fret over incessantly nowadays weren’t really choices.  The choice of where to live, what to study, what work to do and even whom to marry was usually outside of one’s own hands. To me this felt restricted and unnatural. To my roommates and Chinese friends this felt normal and meant one less worry in life. In today’s world we are it feels drowning in choices, many of which are unnecessary and bring little benefit. I do sometimes wonder if a simpler life, with less choice, equates to greater happiness and less stress.

      另一个让我难忘的事情是，当时在上海，人身安全从来不是个问题。犯罪的字眼几乎没出现过在大家的话题里，那时的中国给我感觉是这个星球上最安全的地方。我的许多女同学可以一个人毫无顾虑地走遍了中国大江南北，人们十分友好、对你好奇，也永远微笑。我记得有次我刚从父母那里拿到了每月 600 元的零花钱，还是外汇券的形式，回到房间却发现我在拥挤的电车上把钱包弄丢了。结果第二天早上我被叫到传达室，我的钱包和 600 元人民币都被送了回来——有好心人捡到了，绕了一大圈送到五角场还给我。想象一下那时我的惊喜和感动，那是在一个大学教授的正式月薪都只有118元的年代，600元并不是一个小数目。

    Personal safety was never a problem.  Crime as a whole wasn’t a talking point and China felt like the safest place on the planet. Many of my female classmates travelled the length and breadth of China alone – without cause for concern.  People were friendly, inquisitive and always ready to smile.  I remember the day I had just received my monthly allowance of RMB600 (in Waihuiquan外汇券) from my parents – only to get back to my room to find I had lost my wallet on the crowded trolley bus home.  Imagine my surprise the next morning when I was summoned down to the campus reception to be given back my wallet – together with the RMB600! Some honest soul had made a huge detour across town to Wujiaochang to get it back to me.  At a time when the official monthly wage of a university professor was RMB118 – this was no small sum.  I was super touched.