Chasing Some Far Off Dream

I’ve yet to hear from the authorities concerning Friday’s “raid” of the school and my possible deportation, but articles released today concerning the Chinese government’s “crackdown” on illegal foreign workers, including mandatory fines and possible jailtime, does little to reassure me. I’d appreciate prayers all around. I expected to have plenty of stories from my time in Beijing, but I never expected one of them to be about my “two weeks in a Chinese prison.”

Now that I’m finally getting settled into Beijing (after a whopping three months of culture shock and the worst kind o’ homesickness), my mind turns back to a few main goals.

- More songwriting, performing.
- Working out on a regular schedule.
- Finding a local church.
- Getting a tattoo (or forty).

I’ve gotten a few song ideas and a rough draft for one song done since I got here, which isn’t so great, but at least something is getting done.  I’ve played a couple of open mics, but as I haven’t been practicing much, I can’t remember too many songs, and don’t play much for fear of overplaying the few songs I could manage to remember.  That’s slowly changing as I spend more time with my guitar and less time in the bars.

I joined a nice gym not too far from the apartment on Tuesday, laying down quite a bit of money on a one-year membership, and still haven’t managed to go yet.  My excuses?  Wednesday, no time between work, Chinese class, and hosting a failed pool tournament.  Thursday, I didn’t pack any workout clothes and haven’t had a chance to go shopping.  Friday, work all day and surprise KTV at Lion King with friends, then finding a guy passed out on the sidewalk in the middle of Wudaokou and staying up til eight in the morning helping him out and tracking down somebody that knows him.  Saturday, surprise marketing event for one of my schools at ten in the morning (though I didn’t make it til noon…) in Huilongguan.  Then sleep for the rest of the day.  And today, Sunday, I wake up sick.  Tomorrow, though, I get out of class at 7:30 and, sick or not, I will put in a light workout, hell or high-water.  Tired of excuses.

I was planning on going to church this morning, but managed to talk myself out of it due to my sickly condition.  I’ll shoot again for next week.  I’ve been feeling more and more of a call lately, and plan to investigate this further.  There was a time in my left when I felt I should join the ministry.  Perhaps I knew more then than I do now.

And as far as tattoos go, I still can’t decide what I want.  Something I will never regret.  Something that tells a story.  Something that nobody else has.  It may be awhile before I decide, or I might stumble upon something in the next few days.  There’s no telling, but I would love to have at least one tattoo representing my time in Beijing before I leave.  Now, deciding on one image to represent my entire time here could take some time!

So…some goals.  All do-able.  All going to be done.  Here we go.

There are rumours flying around of a possible military coup going on in China, though I haven’t seen any first hand evidence of such.  From what I’ve read on international websites, there are supposedly tanks on the streets of Beijing and random shootings going on around the area.  Though I haven’t seen anything of the sort, I’ll keep my guard up and try to avoid giant death machines.

However, local news, which may not be the most trustworthy, hasn’t mentioned a thing.

All in all, the prospect of a violent coup is slim.  I’ll try to keep everyone updated as news develops.

Then went home.

It was spectacular.

Also, sitting and eating a bacon double cheeseburger at Burger King while watching the line I had just given up on still not moving was the highlight of my day.  One of the most satisfying meals I’ve ever had.

Upon returning to the line, I learned that there were no more flights to South Korea today.  

So this guy is going to take a nap so I can wake up in the middle of the night and prepare for a 8:45 flight to Seoul tomorrow. Then, after spending three or four hours exploring this giant amazing city I’ve never been to, I’ve got to hop on a plane back to Beijing and get to bed at a decent time for work on Monday morning.

“Why such a short trip?” you may ask.  Since I’m here in China on a temporary tourist visa, my maximum stay can only last 60 days.  However, I can come and go as many times as I’d like over the next year.  Each time I come back into China, I have another 60 days before I have to leave again.  Thus, a seemingly meaningless trip to another country.  I’ve heard of others walking through customs, then going back through and making their return flight immediately. I, at least, get a few hours to explore. 

My goal is to visit the DMZ and make silly faces at North Korea.  Pray that I succeed in this endeavor.

Sidenote:  My flight was delayed/cancelled/whatever because there was too much smog.  Smog.  Like, pollution.  My favorite part is that they continued to call it “heavy fog.”  Nice try, Beijing.  But that ain’t fog.

Going to South Korea instead.  

Hm.