Eric's Beijing Diary

Stopped and picked up my Chinese granddaughter at the subway station outside the East Gate of Beida (Peking University). She is in Beijing for a few months studying Czech, so that she can go to the Czech Republic and get a free education (tuition in the Czech Republic is free if you are willing to learn the language and study with the natives).

"You're late, Grandpa. Woman!"

She was giving me some of my own medicine.

The Christmas program/party was held in a rented room on the campus of Peking University, but it was put on by a student group from the National Forestry University.

I usually go to the Christmas program at Haidian Church, but standing outside in the cold with thousands of other people waiting for a seat that is not to be had is just not that much fun. Actually, I have managed to get in every year--last year because I was given a ticket by someone who works for the church. Fair enough, but when I entered, I was berated by a young lady who assumed that I was getting in just because I was a foreigner. She was partly right, I suppose, but not completely, because, after all, I was given a ticket by someone who urged me to come.

Anyway, this year I found a way to avoid the hassle. I have been to these informal type Christmas events before. The best one I ever attended was a beautiful Christmas program at the Chaoyang Hotel a few years ago, put on by a local house church. The problem with programs like that is that they don't tend to happen twice. We'll see about this one.