One of the hard things about living in China is I have a very narrow view of what's going on here. I can't speak or understand much Chinese, so I miss out on information that is obvious to anyone else.
This causes constant small hassles (not being able to understand what people are asking me to do, not being able to read signs, having to tolerate being pushed out of the way by pushy people without being able to defend myself) and sometimes bigger issues too.
Like on Sunday. I was visiting Beijing for the weekend, just a fun quick getaway, and on Sunday planned to meet up with some other friends where they usually go on Sunday morning. They told me the subway stop and the time to meet them there. No big deal. Except when we got there, as we were outside the subway stop waiting for them to arrive, we noticed lots of blue uniforms. And streets being blocked off. And people waving flags, and some more people down the road unfurling big banners.
Turns out we had to walk right through the middle of a planned gathering of Chinese outside of the Japanese embassy. Don't worry, Mom and Dad, it was a peaceful protest, and since due to our foreign faces we're neither Chinese nor Japanese, there was no danger for us in the slightest. Once the police saw our long noses, blue eyes, and blond hair, we marched through the side gate of the big barricade fence and onto our meeting we'd planned to attend.
How is it these things find me? I accidentally walked smack dab into one once in Italy as well, no matter what intentions I have to stay out of trouble. I put it down to my ignorance of the things happening around me due to language and just lack of being plugged in.
Do lift up this region: that the disputes would be resolved peacefully. Lift up my Japanese coworkers, here teaching, who are limited in their ability to move around this country right now. Lift up the Chinese, in this time of transition, that they would be passionate about things greater than who is buying what island. Ask that they would be moved to be passionate about the realm that lasts forever.
This causes constant small hassles (not being able to understand what people are asking me to do, not being able to read signs, having to tolerate being pushed out of the way by pushy people without being able to defend myself) and sometimes bigger issues too.
Like on Sunday. I was visiting Beijing for the weekend, just a fun quick getaway, and on Sunday planned to meet up with some other friends where they usually go on Sunday morning. They told me the subway stop and the time to meet them there. No big deal. Except when we got there, as we were outside the subway stop waiting for them to arrive, we noticed lots of blue uniforms. And streets being blocked off. And people waving flags, and some more people down the road unfurling big banners.
Turns out we had to walk right through the middle of a planned gathering of Chinese outside of the Japanese embassy. Don't worry, Mom and Dad, it was a peaceful protest, and since due to our foreign faces we're neither Chinese nor Japanese, there was no danger for us in the slightest. Once the police saw our long noses, blue eyes, and blond hair, we marched through the side gate of the big barricade fence and onto our meeting we'd planned to attend.
How is it these things find me? I accidentally walked smack dab into one once in Italy as well, no matter what intentions I have to stay out of trouble. I put it down to my ignorance of the things happening around me due to language and just lack of being plugged in.
Do lift up this region: that the disputes would be resolved peacefully. Lift up my Japanese coworkers, here teaching, who are limited in their ability to move around this country right now. Lift up the Chinese, in this time of transition, that they would be passionate about things greater than who is buying what island. Ask that they would be moved to be passionate about the realm that lasts forever.
