“Why Do You Need to Rock Someone?” and Other Recent Happenings

An interesting part about living in China is Sunday fellowship. Beijing International Christian Fellowship (BICF) has several meeting places around town. After trying a few, I found home with a smaller branch called BICF Next. Up until a few weeks ago, we met in a conference room in a “leisure center” (big building with a health club in it). That room is now under renovation, so we are meeting in a restaurant. Yesterday, I headed to the service, but I had never been to this restaurant. I got lost and straggled in late. The host greeted me and asked how many were in my party. I said, “Actually, I’m here to pray with a bunch of foreigners. Do you know about that?” He nodded and directed me upstairs. The moment made me smile. It felt like a crazy thing to ask at a restaurant. I found a seat next to the bar and joined in the service!

After fellowship, I bought a treat – whole wheat bagels – from a foreign food store and headed for the bus stop. Those of you who followed my stories when I lived in Nanchang know that crossing the street is a special issue for me. I’m not afraid like I used to be, and can now be seen standing in the middle of moving traffic, casually texting on my phone. So, there I was, bagels in hand, stepping off the curb into the frenetic dance that is Beijing traffic. I looked to my left and heard, “Hey! Hey!” from the right. Thud! and I was in a scooter driver’s lap! That’s right, friends. I walked into a moving scooter. Thankfully, he must have decided that I wasn’t going to stop, so he wasn’t going very fast. I swore, apologized, patted his arm, and we were both on our way again.

This morning, I was writing lessons in the office. My friend Rhachel had music playing on her computer and “We Will Rock You” came on. Our Chinese co-teacher, Cara, giggled and asked me, “What does this song mean?” I stumbled through an explanation and finally settled with, “It’s just fun to sing.” To which she asked, “Why do you need to rock someone?” Good question! I challenge all of you to try explaining this and let me know if you come up with any good conclusions. The next song was “Ice, Ice Baby”. Cara didn’t ask about that one.