Another ho-hum boring day of weirdness
Yesterday afternoon we walked to the coffee shop and the grocery store. It's hard for me to get to a daily rhythm here again, and I am hoping I find it soon. In the meantime, we are taking frequent trips to the store with side-trips to get coffee (oh where oh where is my coffee pot?).
On this walk I was wondering what on earth I would ever be able to blog about again, seeing how Changping is so completely boring. We walk to the store, and then we walk home. We eat out a lot because the kitchen is still too disgusting. I am doing lots of laundry and hanging it all over the house because the dryer is still broken. B-O-R-I-N-G. I was thinking, "Heck! At least in Shenzhen there were foreigners I could make fun of if I were having a slow Catholic Expat Steelersfan Mommyblogging day."
And then some things happened that made Randy declare later, "You certainly have the oddest interactions with locals."
At the coffee shop a large man with a thick accent from a Muslim country was seated at the table next to us with a young Chinese woman. Once in a while he would ask us where we were from, how long we've been here, usual questions, and then go back to talking with the woman at his table. Then he asked something that at first I didn't hear clearly so he repeated himself, "Did you find your church?"
Out of the blue. Just like that. I wasn't even wearing my crucifix or anything. I have no idea where it came from. Except he knew I was American.
I told him that we hadn't yet, and we had some information that we were working on and he said that his friend would help us. "She is Christian. See?"
She turned and smiled. She offered to help us get to church. We exchanged numbers, something I was a bit apprehensive about, because this is Beijing and all that, but who's to doubt a large man from a Muslim country who introduces me to a fellow Christian?
(Unfortunately, after exchanging several text messages with her today, it turns out her church isn't Catholic. I am going to try to call a priest I do know here in Beijing tomorrow to see if he has a late Mass at his parish. I only found his phone number since we've come back from Hong Kong. Since it looked like this woman was going to get us to what seemed to be a closer Mass, I didn't call this priest today. I know tomorrow morning will not be a good time to call him)
Later at the grocery store a man walked up to us and greeted us in careful, school-English. Very friendly in manner, but very formal in speech. "Hello. It is nice to make your acquaintance. Are you American?" And then he asked further, "I have a friend who is a foreigner. His name is John. Do you know him?"
And then he showed me on his cell phone John's name and number. I did not know John, but someday that will surprise me because there are not many Westerners living here, and if I keep going to the coffee shop a few times a week, I will probably meet John.
So I told the guy that we only just moved here and didn't know anyone.
On this walk I was wondering what on earth I would ever be able to blog about again, seeing how Changping is so completely boring. We walk to the store, and then we walk home. We eat out a lot because the kitchen is still too disgusting. I am doing lots of laundry and hanging it all over the house because the dryer is still broken. B-O-R-I-N-G. I was thinking, "Heck! At least in Shenzhen there were foreigners I could make fun of if I were having a slow Catholic Expat Steelersfan Mommyblogging day."
And then some things happened that made Randy declare later, "You certainly have the oddest interactions with locals."
At the coffee shop a large man with a thick accent from a Muslim country was seated at the table next to us with a young Chinese woman. Once in a while he would ask us where we were from, how long we've been here, usual questions, and then go back to talking with the woman at his table. Then he asked something that at first I didn't hear clearly so he repeated himself, "Did you find your church?"
Out of the blue. Just like that. I wasn't even wearing my crucifix or anything. I have no idea where it came from. Except he knew I was American.
I told him that we hadn't yet, and we had some information that we were working on and he said that his friend would help us. "She is Christian. See?"
She turned and smiled. She offered to help us get to church. We exchanged numbers, something I was a bit apprehensive about, because this is Beijing and all that, but who's to doubt a large man from a Muslim country who introduces me to a fellow Christian?
(Unfortunately, after exchanging several text messages with her today, it turns out her church isn't Catholic. I am going to try to call a priest I do know here in Beijing tomorrow to see if he has a late Mass at his parish. I only found his phone number since we've come back from Hong Kong. Since it looked like this woman was going to get us to what seemed to be a closer Mass, I didn't call this priest today. I know tomorrow morning will not be a good time to call him)
Later at the grocery store a man walked up to us and greeted us in careful, school-English. Very friendly in manner, but very formal in speech. "Hello. It is nice to make your acquaintance. Are you American?" And then he asked further, "I have a friend who is a foreigner. His name is John. Do you know him?"
And then he showed me on his cell phone John's name and number. I did not know John, but someday that will surprise me because there are not many Westerners living here, and if I keep going to the coffee shop a few times a week, I will probably meet John.
So I told the guy that we only just moved here and didn't know anyone.
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