Advertisement
Published: October 9th 2008
Edit Blog Post
When I lack the words of what to write sometimes I know just need to start with something, anything. This is that something. I imagine everyone has those words that there are dying to be released from inside of them. It’s been too long since I’ve written and I’m feeling the build up. Problem is though, time has suppressed so many of those stories that I know I want to have in writing, and to share with all of you back home. The small stories, the ones that make it real; the ones that prove to me that I am living out here. The ones that make you remember certain smells, feelings and overwhelming strange emotions. And when I talk about these stories and the feelings that I attached with them, I’m not sure if you can understand it, but I will do my best to let you in on what is happening. I do know though, that is does help when someone has already been where I’ve been. Not physically in China, but those feelings of being home or knowing you are living in a foreign place. It’s more than difficult to get across to people, it’s hard even for
me to describe to myself. Usually I just do a little shrug or a laugh to myself and I know what I mean by it. People over here react to it different, and when I try and talk about it amongst other foreigners it can lead to a misunderstanding very easily. Basically, it’s the realization that you are living your life in a place you didn’t know exist and you’re living in ways more alive then you knew possible. Actually… maybe that isn’t so hard to explain. Maybe it’s when people ask why or how that’s when I fumble for an explanation.
As for now, let me share some recent stories. China has just come to pass on their National Day holiday, which gave me four days of travel. I decided to do a solo trek and put the little Chinese that I know of to use. Starting out in the early hours of the morning, I was all ready to board the train with my bag and some dumplings I felt prepared. I wanted to check if I was getting on the right train, and to test my Chinese I went to ask someone beside me. As I’m
about to ask I hear my name being called and look around to see a student of mine. The idea of knowing people or bumping into people in a place of 9 million still blows my mind yet here I was standing in front of someone who knew me. Anyways, I totally asked her if I was getting on the right train, and then realized how it’s so easy to get by without knowing the language out here. So much for motivation to keep learning… ( Just so you know, I’ve started professional lessons and I have hope that soon enough I’ll be talking like a local). A decent and not too long of a train ride later I arrived in the modern city of Changzhou. Met a friend of mine and went to fight through the crowds to buy myself a return ticket. Traveling on the holidays as I was warned can get difficult to buy the desired ticket… or any ticket for that matter. While waiting in the line of thousands for the ticket I practiced my Chinese. Which turned out to be pointless because as soon as the clerk said something to me I realized I didn’t
practice or learn potential responses. I was just hoping they would get whatever I needed. I settled for a night ticket leaving on my desired day. What I didn’t know till the time came that it was the slowest train possible and without a seat. Nine hours with no seat, and dead tired. I should back up a little and let you all know how I came to realize this; I’m just going to back up and tell you of the trip first. . From Changzhou we took a bus for an hour to a very small and lazy town called JinTan. My friend having living there for the past 8 months, and being the second foreigner the city has had turned out to be a great guide. With lots of walking, jade shopping and discovering my new love for donkey meat it was soon time for me to jump back on the bus to Changzhou. With two hours to kill before my train, I decided to grab some fries from McDonalds (don’t judge me) and then curl up in the train station to sleep. Being totally exhausted from not sleeping the days before, as soon as I boarded the
train I tried to find a place to throw my bag down, and a place I could sit. Without having a seat, I found little spot in front of the door once the train started moving. However soon security guards came and were speaking Chinese to me… something about there being water on the ground and it’s not good to sit there. I didn’t even noticed, and brushed off their warning. About ten minutes later though, the same guard helped me up, picked up my bag and brought me to his little office on the train. It was clean, and had a desk with no chair. I thanked him as much as I could and jumped on top of the desk and fell asleep hugging my bag. I would wake up to someone tapping my shoulder and offering me some soy milk or a snack. It was really incredible to see just how friendly Chinese people are. Of course they thought I was homeless or lost or something… but the thought was there. They cared, and I thank them all for it, because that train ride almost killed me in the good kind of way. That guard was really helpful,
Shanghai
I'm cheating, and adding pictures from another trip. Shanghai. and near the end of the trip found a bed that I could sleep on, so technically I didn’t go 9 hours without a seat, just 6. Arriving back to Xuzhou at 6 am, I crashed till 9:30 and was back at work for 10. It was a very fast, fun filled and an eye opening type of trip. Travelling alone is definitely something I think people should experience, even if it is to know it’s something you don’t enjoy. I found I liked being alone, I liked hearing myself think about things I might not normal have thought of, or how people react to you being alone. Sometimes when we are in a group we take no notice of the surrounds, when you’re alone I feel you do just the opposite.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 55; dbt: 0.0528s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Helen
non-member comment
I like your entries, but just like LJ they are mostly for you. It's something that you can look back on, and you might regret it if you miss certain wonderful / terrible things that happened. It will make you happy if in ten years you can go back and read about your time in China. I hope you are keeping a journal (or plan on making one when you get back).