In more ways than one, it has been crazy here recently. Personally, it has been a whirlwind, sorry for the dearth of posts; about a week after Judy and Lisa left, a friend from med school, Shane, came to visit. He just left yesterday, and my apartment again seems strangely empty, but I am scrambling to catch up with things. I have definitely enjoyed having all the visitors this year though - please feel free to come to Nashville next year, although I know its not as exciting as China! (it IS cheaper though to get to)
Crazy things have been happening in Beijing recently as well:
--Its snowing in April. About a week ago great fluffy puffs of white pollen appeared in the air, and on windy days, it really looks like a snow storm! Apparently 10-15 years ago, the Chinese government planted tons of poplar trees without researching their behavior, only to discover that they have copious amounts of white pollen in springtime. I've been warned that the pollen storms will continue for 2-3 weeks!
--Human rights continue to be infringed, with an unregistered Chinese Christian church in Beijing having their building barred from them and members arrested when they tried to meet in the street instead. I don't understand why the government regards freedom of religion as such a bad thing - there are plenty of historical examples where Christianity has actually been used as a social and spiritual balm for the poor oppressed masses, but it seems like the government here is worried about it provoking unrest. It does seem like they are less critical of Christianity in general, and more so of churches who are not registered with the government, which I suppose smacks of free thinking.
--There was a wine festival at Carrefour yesterday, and Adam, Alison, and I, along with several of their other friends, attended. It was basically a huge room filled with people handing out free wine in hopes that you'd buy it! Carrefour is a french grocery store chain, so of course more than 50% of the wine there was french, and there were actually French vineyard owners there serving wine! It was awesome!
More posts coming soon about Shane's visit and recent events :)
Crazy things have been happening in Beijing recently as well:
--Its snowing in April. About a week ago great fluffy puffs of white pollen appeared in the air, and on windy days, it really looks like a snow storm! Apparently 10-15 years ago, the Chinese government planted tons of poplar trees without researching their behavior, only to discover that they have copious amounts of white pollen in springtime. I've been warned that the pollen storms will continue for 2-3 weeks!
--Human rights continue to be infringed, with an unregistered Chinese Christian church in Beijing having their building barred from them and members arrested when they tried to meet in the street instead. I don't understand why the government regards freedom of religion as such a bad thing - there are plenty of historical examples where Christianity has actually been used as a social and spiritual balm for the poor oppressed masses, but it seems like the government here is worried about it provoking unrest. It does seem like they are less critical of Christianity in general, and more so of churches who are not registered with the government, which I suppose smacks of free thinking.
--There was a wine festival at Carrefour yesterday, and Adam, Alison, and I, along with several of their other friends, attended. It was basically a huge room filled with people handing out free wine in hopes that you'd buy it! Carrefour is a french grocery store chain, so of course more than 50% of the wine there was french, and there were actually French vineyard owners there serving wine! It was awesome!
More posts coming soon about Shane's visit and recent events :)
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