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On the Road to China
with George... page 6
Hi, I have arrived in Xian...
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 12:40 AM
The the trip was uneventful, other than the ride to the airport. At
7 p.a. Samantha came over to the hotel so that I could get my
key deposit back, I was scheduled to meet my tutor at 7:30, there
is a beautiful private park next to the hotel, the hotel and the
grounds belonging to the YenAn Tobacco Company. I sat down
on one of the benches, to read and write a few notes, but as is
often the case here, there is little privacy in public areas.
I became the main attraction. They are all quite friendly,
and try to engage in conversation, often the parents are pushing
them forward to trying to get them to practice what little English
they have learned in school.
They laugh and do a lot of giggling, but usually there
isn't much substance to our talks. Now I didn't mind,
but I can see where it would get rather tiring after a time. As
7:30 approached I moved toward the gate, so that Janet and Victoria
would not miss me, as time ticked on towards 7:45 I started to
become concerned. the Chinese are seldom late, Janet has
the tickets and she is very forgetful, I had visions of her leaving
them somewhere, but at 7:50 they both arrived. We had planned
to stop downtown, for Chinese pizza at the Western restaurant
before we left, we grabbed a cab and headed downtown. Putting
my four bulky bags in the trunk.. When I travel, I feel like a
pack horse, I have been giving away shirts to lighten my
load, but People keep giving me things, so I have more baggage
than when I started. so we carted all this stuff into the
hotel and up to the 5th floor and had a pizza. I was trying
to stretch out the time because I have been to the train station
in YenAn twice and it is not a welcoming sight. But apparently
I cut it a little close, when we went downstairs, we couldn't
locate an empty cab. I seems 9-9:30 is a busy time for them.
We finally located one and headed off, Janet an I in the back
and our luggage in the trunk, we go about 200 yards and the driver
stops the cab to pick someone else up.
Well, being a old cab driver, I yell quite loud, "oh
no don't" loud enough to scare his 2nd potential customer
away. The driver then pulls over, and we engage in quite
an argument, he threatens to throw us out, (which I know full
well is a bluff, no cabbie gives up a nice long fare) He throw
his tantrum
for a minute or two and proceeds to the station. The cab
drivers here are without a doubt some of the most aggressive
in the world. Well all but the one who is taking the cab to the
train station. We are in a hurry and now were being passed
literally, left and right. I had take a ride to the station
earlier in the week, which happened to be a good thing or I would
have thought this guy was taking us for a ride. The regular
station is being reconstructed, so the secondary station is about
15 miles out of town. and at one point the driver leaves the main
road for a desolate dirt road that follows the river, it is dark
and winds haphazardly in the pitch black.
The only hint that we might be going in the right direction
is that there was a snake line of taxis in the distance behind
us. After we crossed the river, we emerged in to a small community
of houses and stores, with groups of people and families standing
and sitting in front of their residences and stores. Then
another half mile of nothing and finally the trainstaiton. With
with 10 mins. to spare. After paying the driver, we headed
off, unfortunately in the wrong direction. Things are not
marked too well. After couple hundred yards we reversed
our direction and join a rushing crowd through the station, just
in time to board. We had a soft sleeper, which is only a
few dollars more the an hard sleeper, and as far as I'm concerned,
the only way to travel, and it is the only guarantee of
air conditioning. The rest of the trip was uneventful.
The other two people in the cabin were businessmen. One
being in the oil business, the other in computers. The oil
man and I talked well into the night, with Janet acting as the
interpretor.
He was a right wing conservative nationalist, and rather crude
-- not unlike an American oil man. We all fell
asleep about 2:30, the train arrived at 6:30. I checked
into my hotel, we met Janet's cousin, who is a cab driver here
and has agreed to give me a tour of the city this afternoon. We
went to the Western restaurant here for breakfast; they wouldn't
eat anything, they didn't like anything on the menu. I had eggs,
Janet and her cousin, left for awhile so that I could get some
sleep. We have lunch at 1P.M. Well that's all for
now. with love to all, George
My Chinese friends showed up at
1p.m...
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 6:18 AM
we had lunch together. being
with them is to much like being on a tour. I don't do well
with group decision making and they limit my ability to explore.
Furthermore, there is too much talk in Chinese and I'm left out
of the conversation. At 5 p.m. Janet and her cousin, left
to go to his house for the evening and I am thankfully alone setting
here in the internet bar. In a few mins. I will head over
to the real bar for a few beers. This hotel is loaded with
westerners and it's nice to just sit here an pick up conversations
with people that speak unimpeded English. I don't want to
seem ungrateful, but being around Chinese constantly, can
be straining. I definitely need a break from time to time
to recover. I have also, come down with a slight cold,
so I need some rest. Janet leaves tomorrow afternoon for
her hometown, so I'll be free after that. I will say that
she was a real asset when traveling from YenAn to Xian.
I'll write some more tomorrow. With love, George
Hi, all is well...
Thursday, August 03, 2006 4:44 AM
with me, my cold seems to be under
control, it was never all that bad.
I suspect a lot of it is related to diet. Living out of
hotels is always difficult, but living out of hotels in a place
like China really presents a challenge. Meals are always
an adventure. I have tried to buy fruit and nuts when ever
I can and eat those, but being with other people, particularly
Chinese, one if often forced to conform to their eating habits
and schedules. The trade off of course is that they can
be helpful in so many ways. For example trying to get train
tickets or when making travel plans or going anywhere for that
matter, it is great to have a national along. Today, Janet
left for her home and another student, Horton came by to
see me. He is a senior high school student who was at the
Western language center, he and I went over to the train station,
to get tickets for Beijing.
The the ticket windows were jammed, a good two hour wait,
he turned around and said he would have his father (a local policeman
pick them up. How valuable is that. I will no doubt
take him out for dinner. I am trying to eat healthy, but
it is easy to see the problem. Rebbecca, the American teacher
in Yan Ann had the right situation, she had a kitchen in her apartment,
and did a lot of cooking and entertaining. From what I can gather,
the Universities in Xian have the American teachers eat in the
cafeterias.
Now there are times when guides become an impediment, for
two reasons, the first
is that the learning curve drops when someone is doing all the
talking for you, when I am alone I am forced to function and learn.
I am finding that my interpreters are learning far more English
that I am Chinese, and they become the focus of attention.
The person speaking to me, is never really speaking to me, they
are looking and speaking to the interpreter. And often,
long stretches slip into Chinese, and I am left out. Where
as if I am alone, everyone in the room is working with me to try
to figure out communication. it is a lot more fun, but can
be very frustrating and often exhausting.
The second thing that I have found out is that, guides
are much more subject to conflict. there often seems to
be a resentment between the guide and the people we are
dealing with. A "who do you think you are" kind
of attitude. Horton and I came into the local internet/travel
assistance center and asked about buying train tickets here,
(which I have heard them arrange while I was sitting here typing)
they told him to go to the local bank. A couple of hours
later, I returned alone after the staff had changed and asked
the same question, and I was assured that they could get tickets
for me for a fee, but there was another place nearby that we could
get them cheaper. Big difference in attitude and demeanor.
And I have seen it in dealing with taxis and hotel clerks too.
I have decided to stay in Xian a couple of more days, until next
Tuesday, I like it here and it is comfortable. Beijing can
wait, there is nothing I need to do or see there. Well I
have to go, I will write some more tomorrow. with love,
George
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