G- Ok, Gladys, you ready to go?
P- What time is it?
G- We have 90 minutes before our train leaves. We'll be at the train station more than an hour before our train leaves, so we're good on time. Let me help you put your packs on.
P- These packs are getting heavier and heavier.
G- It's not helping that we're buying heavy winter clothes.
Because we each had our big packs on our backs and our day packs on our front, I could not turn my head to see her but had to completely turn my body around to be sure she hadn't fallen and was lying on her shell. Having to carry an umbrella was not helping.
G- I don't know. None of them match the symbols on our tickets. Just pick one.
P- Step aside before this old man knocks you down. He's apparently in a big hurry because he almost knocked me, and the old lady next to me, down.
G- Shit!
P- What?
G- We're gonna have to take our packs off up ahead and put them through a scanner.
P- Ugh! It's so hard getting them back on and these people are so damn impatient.
We struggled to get all of our packs off, through the scanner, and back on while people literally ran over us and attempted to dragged there bags through us. Once repacked, we went through another checkpoint where we were scanned by a woman with a metal detector wand. I showed her the tickets and she pointed upstairs. At the top of the escalator I showed the tickets to another attendant and she pointed us through another set of doors.
P- What did she say?
G- Gladys, this may come as a surprise to you, but I do not speak Chinese.
P- I couldn't hear whether she told you something in English or not.
G- No, we're in China, she spoke to me in Mandarin, I guess.
P- She seemed a little agitated.
P- What the hell?
G- I don't know, but they clearly want us to hurry up.
P- What time is it?
G- The train is not supposed to leave for 65 minutes.
P- Well, they seem to be freaking out.
G- Then hurry.
We walked, as quickly as laden mules can walk, down a hallway, then down 3 flights of stairs. My legs were burning so I knew Phyllis was in serious pain.
G- Hurry up, baby! I know you're dying.
P- I'm going as fast as I can! I'd like to know why we're hurrying.
G- I'm not sure, but clearly they want us to hurry.
P- If I fall down the stairs, or if my knee gives out, we won't be going anywhere. I'm going as fast as I can. I'm sweating my ass off with all these clothes on.
G- Me too. Suck it up and move as quickly as you can. We'll be sitting on the train for 5 hours.
When we finally reached the platform the attendants at the bottom went ballistic. I tried to run but Phyl kept her same slow and steady pace. The attendant on the train had to lower the stairs so we could get on. They were all yelling at us, or to us, in Chinese. I pulled myself aboard, legs already like Jello, then turned and pulled Phyl up. We had no idea which car we were on because we had to jump on the one closest to the bottom of the stairs. The attendant was clearly aggravated as she looked at our tickets, pointed toward the front, and pulled the stairs back up. We tried to walk up the car as the train lunged forward.
G- I can't figure it out. It's leaving 55 minutes early. I don't understand why.
We dragged ourselves, bouncing from wall to wall, through several sleeper train cars. That was bad enough, but when we reached the cars with the seats and walked down the aisles, stepping over legs and baggage, with 200 eyes watching every move we made, that was extremely uncomfortable. Finally, 8 cars later, we reached our seats, which were occupied by other people. I showed the interlopers our tickets and they got up, but there was no place to put our bags.
We were both dripping sweat, so before we sat down, and while the entire train car of people watched , we pulled off our jackets and sweatshirts down to our short sleeve shirts. All eyes followed our every move!! I squeezed onto the bench seat, past a woman who looked none to happy, and wedged myself and my daypack behind the table. The people sitting across, facing us, stared. Phyl shoved my big pack under the table, jamming my left leg against the wall, and I put my right leg on the bag. I was sure the man across from me had his legs squished too, but he was nonplussed. Phyl left her big pack in the aisle. We sat trying to regroup and cool down. Everyone on the train continued to stare at us.
P- What the hell just happened?
G- I cannot figure it out. The train was supposed to leave at 11:00. Why did it leave at 10:00?
P- Maybe the guy told us the wrong time.
P- We're right above Hanoi, so we're in the same time zone.
G- Well, somehow all the other people on the train knew the correct time.
Erin – Hello.
Our heads jerked up in unison. Heretofore unnoticed was a young, early 20's Chinese girl sitting across from Phyllis.
P & G – Hi.
P- You speak English?
Erin – Yes, a little.
G- Hi, I'm Gina.
P- I'm Phyllis.
Erin- Where are you from?
P- America.
Erin – Really? I've never met an American before.
G- Erin, can you tell us why the train left early.
Erin – I don't know. Sometimes it leaves early.
G- An hour early? (I held my arm out to her and pointed to my watch.)
Erin – Maybe.
G- How will we know if the train is going to leave early?
Erin – Oh, I don't know.
P- This is very confusing. We almost missed the train because it left early.
Erin – Maybe you must get to the station very early.
P- Earlier than an hour?
Man behind us – (translated by Erin) He says he has never seen a western person before.
G- Really?
Man – (translated by Erin) He thought you were Germans.
P- But we're speaking in English, not German. We do have German ancestors.
Erin – It might be hard for him to tell. I do not know that word.
P- Some of our people came to America from Germany. Our grandmothers' grandmothers and grandfathers' grandfathers.
Erin – Oh. I understand.
Another man - (to Erin who translated) He asks if you like China.
G- Yes, but we have only arrived 2 days ago and we have only seen Nanning.
Erin – Where did you come from?
G- We took a bus from Hanoi, Vietnam.
Erin – (translating for those gathered around) No one here has gone outside of China.
P- We wish the sun would come out and it would stop raining.
Erin – Now is the time for rain. Maybe it will stop in April or May.
P- That does not sound good, Erin.
Erin – I am sorry.
A woman – (to Erin who translated) Where will you go in China?
G- Now we go to Guilin, then Yangshuo, then Changdu. Later we will go to Beijing, Xi'an, & Shanghai.
G- It is far to come from America and we must see all that we can..
Same woman – (to Erin who translated) She thinks Americans are rich.
G- America is a richer country than many other countries, but there are a lot of Americans who are poor. Also, things are more expensive in America than they are in China.
P- Tell her that there are many places in America that would surprise her because the people there are so poor.
G- China is growing now, but America, like much of the world, is having a very bad economy. Do you know that word?
Erin - Yes, I know it.
Man sitting next to Erin – (to Erin who translated) Do Americans like Chinese people?
P- Yes, I think so. I don't know any Americans who don't like Chinese people. There are many Chinese people who live in America, especially in San Francisco.
Erin – I don't know that place.
G- It's in California.
Erin – Yes, California I know.
G- What does he think of Americans or America?
G- Tell me whatever he said.
Erin- I do not want to offend you.
G- I won't get offended. We are interested in what people around the world think of America. We know that America is not perfect.
Erin – He thinks America is aggressive.
P- I can see why he thinks that.
G- I don't disagree with that. We can be aggressive. Definitely under Bush our treatment of other countries was aggressive and rude. Obama has tried to change our tone, but overall, the American government does what it thinks is best for America without regard for the rest of the world. Many times without regard for what's best for the American people. Many governments are like that and can be very short sighted.
Erin – (after translating what I said and having more discussion with the man) Yes, he agrees.
P- (to Gina) That's a weird way to ask that question.... it sounds like you're asking 'is America the good witch or the bad witch'.
G- (to Phyl) Well, I'm trying to phrase it simply and use words that I know Erin will know. (to Erin) I ask because your government is Communist, and I know it censors your information, so I'm trying to understand if your government wants you to think America is good or if America is bad.
Erin – What is Communist? I do not know this word.
G- Communist is the name for the kind of government you have. The kind of government that was created when Chairman Mao took over the country.
Erin – (blank look)
G- What do you call the kind of government you have?
Erin – A republic.
G- Well, it's called The People's Republic of China, but the style of government is Communist. Like Russia. America's government is called a democracy because the people get to vote for the representatives and the president.
Erin – We vote for our leaders in our cities, but not for the country's leaders.
P- Really? You vote for some leaders?
P- I did not know that. (to Gina) Did you know that?
G- No. Then, even though Americans like to think so, I guess our governments aren't all that different. China is Communist and America is a Corpocracy. The average person gets a say on a very low level, like city council or little local governments, but the president is basically picked by the very rich and corporations. They have all the money and they decide which man will run for each party. The average American has little choice in the matter, even though we like to pretend that we do.
Erin- I do not know about these things. Maybe I will learn more about this in school.
P- Maybe, but I doubt it because most Americans don't really understand it.
After about 2 hours our legs were numb from the inability to move them, so when the train stopped, we tried to move the bags around.
The man we had discussed politics with watched as we struggled to get a little more room for our feet. Graciously, he got up, restacked some bags on the shelf above us, and put our big packs up there. We thanked him profusely. The bags had been moved just in time because a short time later, the lunch cart lady came down the aisle.
Phyl & I had purchased noodle bowls at Wal-Mart and were going to taste this Chinese mainstay for the first time. Phyl followed others with their noodle bowls to the end of the train car and watched them get the hot water from a huge, heated, metal container. We watched a lady on the other side of the aisle and followed her lead by emptying our little packets of dried contents into the hot water and let it sit for a few minutes. Then we ate our first noodle bowl meal, on a train, in China. It was so very Chinese.
G- Don't you think the guy sitting across from me looks like Vikki's husband, Louis?
P- I don't know why they love this stuff so much. It reminds me of Ramin noodles and I don't care for them.
G- It's not terrible, but the sodium must be through the roof. At least it's kind've like a hot meal.
P- It'll do.
G- Chinese Louis looks like he does not feel well. I wish he'd stop coughing germs into my noodle bowl. It's grossing me out.
P- Yeah, he does look sick and hasn't picked his head up off the window. I wish he'd keep his tuberculosis on his side of the table. I don't want to get sick.
P- We should be there in 2 more hours.
G- The scenery is pretty. I wish the window was cleaner.
