In Kunming, a new Couchsurfing host accepted my request for accommodation, where I got my private room. He has a religious community and I took part in their daily life.
Introduction
Kunming was my last stop before I headed off to Laos. I got a room near University Town for the next five days. I was exhausted from the twenty-five-hour train I took from Guangzhou the day before. However, I liked it, and therefore I booked only a hard seat for the whole journey. I slept for probably two hours. After I found the apartment of my new Couchsurfing host, I washed my clothes and went to bed early on the same day.
Part 01
I got up early and booked my bus for Laos, which I would take the following Monday. I realized that I adapted well to China, except for the language, which I was too lazy to learn. I could handle most things with assistance from strangers, friends, or already at own. China had a rapid development in new technologies, and if you like to use them, it made your life much more convenient. During the daytime, I was back at the apartment. I relaxed on the sofa or wrote on my website and diaries.
After dinner, I could join my host and his family at the daily meeting in the neighborhood. At 08:00 PM, many people were coming to an apartment on the second floor. It was a community of fifty or even more people, and every evening, they attended small religious lessons. When I entered the large living room, many families with their kids were already sitting on chairs and waiting for the speaker to read a chapter from the Christian Bible. I introduced myself several times to all the kids and asked them about their names and age. Most of them are between four and eight, and they can speak simple words in English. After shaking hands, I took a seat behind all those kids next to their parents. A young man at my side showed me his Bible, written in English and Chinese. They were learning about Jesus and God how I did it, too, when I took church classes every Friday afternoon at the age of twelve until fifteen.
Eventually, the speaker stepped into the room and took place at the podium. He recognized me as a new attendee, and we exchanged some words. His name was Paul, and he was in Berne for some years to study religion. Now he gave his knowledge and advice to Chinese folks who want to learn about the Bible. Today we listened to chapter eight from the Old Testament, first in Chinese and then in English. After it, the speaker explained and summarized the essential points in his Chinese words to the participants.
At 10:00 PM, the class was over. One of my new friends, Jimmy, invited me to join him for some nightwork. We left the apartment and took a car to the flower market. Jimmy worked at a flower store. They were not just selling simple flowers; they also baked flower cakes. We went to a giant warehouse full of fresh flowers. This night we had to prepare a delivery for a customer. The flowers must be made until the early morning when they will be picked up. We were about twenty people from the religion classes. All the nosegays had to be wrapped with paper and put in boxes for delivery. At 01:00 AM, we were finished and went together to a restaurant to have a midnight supper. They ordered a barbecue with beef skewers, vegetables, fries, tofu, and eggplant. Also, we drank a few beers, and we shared Chinese and German words. At 02:30 AM, we went home to sleep….
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