I decided mid-week that I wanted to go to church on Sunday, so I've been planning, plotting and looking forward to it in general. :D So early this morning, right after our morning meeting, I sallied forth in style (jeans and a black shirt) for my first lonesome excursion in this great city of Beijing. I'd planned to listen to worship songs on my iPod on the taxi ride there, but my driver blew all those plans away.
The taxi driver was the first friendly one I've encountered since arriving here a week ago. All the others have been super dour and suspicious, as if I were singlehandedly plotting to stab them in the back through their seat cushions and then strangle them and then blow up their cabs. They don't know I'm too lazy to do more than one of those every week. Anyway, this guy was very voluble. He told me about the Olympics ("I guess you could say 'We're ready!' for the Games"), his son (taking entrance exams for college next week), the one-child policy ("We don't complain; it's less trouble, right?"), his general perspective on me being Taiwanese (implied traitors? ;p), and safety in Beijing ("We're a damn safe city!"). I learned this rather early on in my residency in Asia as a child, but the more you agree with this type of person, the more they will tell you. And their stories are generally worth hearing. He exhibited a genuine pride in being Chinese today... as he well should be. :) It's an exciting time for this nation. I'm happy for them.
On to church. I was a dork and didn't look super carefully at my directions before I left home, so while I made it to the right building, I was really confused. I got dropped off in front of a large hotel, and I not only made the rounds of the first floor and second floor lobbies, I made a circuit around the entire building (about a 5-minute walk) looking for some form of a street sign that might read "Beijing Baptist Church." Well, they didn't, and in that moment I felt a distinct ache for the familiarity of Taiwan streets, bristling with their signs upon lit signs. I'd started out early to have plenty of time to be there punctually for the service, so as I walked I said, "Hi, God, if you want me in church today you have to help me find this place!" The second time in, I took the elevator to the second floor instead of the stairs, and lo and behold, there was a sign I didn't see the first time around:
Hehe. I took this to mean that God did indeed want me in church today. Maybe that was presumptuous of me? ;p
The church itself wasn't quite what I was expecting, so I think I was a little bit disappointed. It turned out to be an English-speaking congregation of about 15 people. There were maybe 5 Chinese people, all of whom spoke English to me - those who spoke to me, anyway. :P The sermon was about the prodigal son and whatnot (which is a topic/parable I've been pondering for a while now), but even in the pastor's sermon opening prayer, he said, "Please don't teach us anything new, but help us deepen our understanding of what we already know." Mmm, OK? The first part really threw me, and I'm still not sure how to interpret that. Anyway, I think I'm possibly not being entirely fair/being more critical than necessary, but I was hoping something completely different (for one, a Chinese congregation, since I'm in CHINA after all). I also miss my worship sessions, so not even an attempt at singing made me sad. All in all... it's good to know God can be found anywhere. That being said, I doubt China's Beijing Baptists will be overthrowing the government in a glorious spiritual revolution any time soon. And swinging back to the other side yet again... that's probably a good thing. I'm not generally a fan of coups, because nobody ever thinks to plan for the cleanup afterward.
I walked for about 30 minutes of the trek home with my headphones in my ears and singing David Crowder, Robbie Seay, Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman very loudly all the way home. It was great. I like walking and praying for an area as I go past, but I'm generally too afraid to literally hear people say, "What the crap is wrong with her?!" It's easy for me to forget all that when I can't hear them and when I'm somewhere where nobody knows me.
Following that, the rest of my day is easily summed up in bullet points:
Music
Lots of beef noodles from a new favorite eatery
Shopping
More shopping
Napping
More beef noodles
Writing postcards
Doing some "research"
We go to the Great Wall tomorrow, so good night! In case you are curious, here is a cool image of all the things I have bought so far... at least prior to tonight's trip. ;p
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