You’re in China, man

Where am I?

You’re on the circle line, dude

Where?

In Beijing, man

Beijing?

You’re in China, man

Scott looked around the carriage,
thanked the man,
and got off at the next stop

♫ ♫ ♫

I’m sorry,
I don’t speak Chinese,
said the girl

Do you speak English?

Yes

Where are you from?

Hanoi

Right on
What are you doing here?

Not much
I just got here

Yeah, me too

Then Scott took his guitar out of its case
and began to play,
and people began to gather round
and some began to dance

♫ ♫ ♫

You stop make noise,
said the policewoman

I speak Chinese

Stop making that noise

It’s music, sister

I’m not your sister

At the subatomic level
we’re all brothers and sisters, babe
Would you like to sing?

I only sing at karaoke

Want to try singing
here
and now?

I don’t know that song

I mean
would you like to sing
while I play?
You can just tone if you like

Okay

And so he played
while she sang
the letter “e”

♫ ♫ ♫

Would you like to have a beer with me
after I get off work?

Um,
I’ve never gone out with a cop before

I promise I won’t arrest you

Well, okay

I’ll come back
in about an hour

And she did
and off they went

♫ ♫ ♫

So what happened?

I don’t know, man.
I went outside to make a call,
and the next thing I knew
I woke up on the subway in Beijing
without any money,
and without my passport

How’d you get back?

I walked mostly,
and sometimes I hitched a ride
And I made music
in exchange for food
and a place to sleep

How’d you get across the border?

I played and sang a lullaby
until all the guards on both sides
fell asleep
Then I just walked across

Cool, man