11.23 - 11.27: Grace & Thanks

11.23 - church in China

A couple of us went to the nearby Protestant Sunday Service in Mandarin near campus. We got there 15 minutes early and already it was packed, with standing spaces filled up all along the back. A crowd of people stood in the hallway listening during the sermon. We discussed this in a class last week, and although the Sunday attendees are much more religiously-minded than typically those in the states (I didn't see any socializing afterwards, no after-church lunch groups) the other reason for churches being so packed is that there are so few in any vicinity.

No collections basket going around here. A lot of beggars outside though, which I take note of everywhere I go but rarely give them money these days. People brought fruit though, and arranged them behind the speakers. Fruit and packaged shrimp chips.

The message of the sermon was something about (荣耀) honor and (位分) social status. We heard the sobbing testimonial of a woman who had lost her job and her husband got sick; she sunk deeper into things by turning to Falun Gong until her sister 妹妹 came back from America and told her about the Gospel. We all (祷告) prayed together, and I felt the pangs of having not been in a church service for about three years.

At the end, I hummed along to the Chinese lyrics of "Amazing Grace."

"天天感辛苦、感累、感恩," the pastor said: "Every day we are inspired to grief, to hardship, and to grace."

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More on food. At lunch, I had hibiscus juice which actually tasted like flowers and juice. We also had a "peanut ice," 花生冰沙, the simplicity of which amazed me. We bought some wife cakes after that from the 味多美 bakery. My snacks tonight consist of 凉茶 and choco-pies because they remind me of the south, 小馒头 rice balls because they remind me of being a kid in Hawaii, and a cup of green-apple jelly that just looks monstrous when you drink it through a straw. Along the stairs at Wu-Mei, a young woman was selling Chinese bars of chocolate in a cardboard tray. "Qiaokele, yige yikuair!" Such a beautiful language.


11.27 - Days in the Sound of Short Syllables

/ Visit to a Chinese Women's Prison /

like a hostel:
frightening
only for its
openness


/Buying Finisher Spray at the Art Store /

green crumbs of leaves,
confetti whirlwind
in the wake of cars--
winter


/ Buying Chinese Books /

danger, intersection:
gray-haired ladies
on a moped, giggling,
wave


/ Lama Temple /

chasing sunlight
through auspicious clouds--
taste of winter soot

wheel of the law,
wind, flag,
bell


/ Thanksgiving Dinner /

heartburn
at the sound of non-
empty rooms
across the ocean