I’m Nici. April Fool’s day would always be an indelible memory to me: The pajama party at Citta Café on Fuzhou Road.
At the party, the music sound of electric guitar, beat with the pulse of Chinese martial arts, the artless, naive roommate dressed in Leopard-stripe pajamas performing her karate – wearing a very serious expression, the modern swing dance, the handsome wrestler from Ukraine and the Tai Chi masters with their extraordinary kung fu display; all the elements were in such distinct contrast, but harmoniously blended together. When I talked to Ruslan–a Ukrainian come to China to visit his aircraft designer father — I was a little amazed that our conversation began with the topic about the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong, China’s on-street sale promotion and other social issues.
Maybe it’s based on the Western typical “enterprising liberalism” which pays high attention to politics and public life since ancient times, it stems from ancient Greek and Hebrew culture, and the traditional inheritance of love towards freedom.
It was delightful to see the cultural sparks during the conversation, because the traditional Chine
se culture with Confucianism and Daoism admires a “self-effacing”, “tranquil” quality, thus I call it “Placid liberalism”, and Western traditions always dwell on “madness”, “passion” “obsessiveness”, just like Nietzsche said in “The Birth of Tragedy,” they are the so-called “Apollonian spirit” and “Dionysian spirit.” Of course, China also has the Confucian known for the spirit of “What can’t be Done, but Trying to do it”, and the Daoist spirit of “Doing Nothing”. The difference is just that Chinese “cannot but be” is more passionate than “Apollonian spirit” while “Dionysian spirit” is more obsessive than Daoist “Doing Nothing”.
But no matter how different cultures seem to be from each other, the party brought thoughtful talks and friendly smiles, that’s what we should take in during our life-time tasks, just as the Gospel is to bring good news to all on the earth; at that very moment, we, who had just entered the university, feeling fresh to everything in society, tried hard to pull heart strings crystal clear with innocent expressions, to greet the passing rush of life visitors, and to sow the seeds of cheering care…