The Chengdu - Beijing Train
So...at first, there were issues. With me and getting on the train. Weirdly, the number on my ticket did not match the number on my passport (apparently, they're supposed to). I was brought to a higher ranking...person around. She asked me if I bought the ticket. I said I did and I did not know why the number was wrong. I bought the ticket there (pointing at the ticket stalls) and I used this passport and it was me, not someone else and it totally wasn't my fault the number was wrong. Holding my ticket, she asked me how much I paid for it, which was easy to remember because I hadn't been expecting to pay so much (1045 yuan). She gave me back my ticket and let me go. Whew.
My fifteen hour train ride ended up being really nice and comfy. There was a TV at the end of the bed! Everything was new and shiny...I heard they just started using the fifteen-hour trains from Chengdu to Beijing in January, so that's probably why.
I shared my cabin with a family (father, mother, and toddler son). They were pretty nice, from Chongqing (which I really want to visit at some point). The mother was watching TV and laughing a lot, so I looked up to see what she was watching. And I totally did not expect to see La Grande Vadrouille. It's one of my favorite movies. I used to watch it every summer in Verton. Of course, this time it was dubbed over with Chinese, which was...kind of weird to watch. And some of the jokes got lost because some characters speak English and German in addition to French, although I pretty much know the movie line by line...like this:
Augustin: You come with me to pick up Peter.
Stanislas: No, you come with me to pick up MacIntosh.
Augustin: No, no, no...you - oh merde alors comment on dit ca...
Stanislas: Comment ca 'merde alors'? but alors you are French!
hahaha....I love that movie. And I totally still have a crush on MacIntosh.
Anyway, they played a lot of good movies and I ended up watching part of Roman Holiday and A World Without Thieves. Gregory Peck and Andy Lau. Good combination.
I got to Beijing at about 7:30 AM and almost didn't get let though (again...) because I'd misplaced my ticket. Oops. That was kind of my fault. I actually found it later but they let me go through anyways.
Took the bus, walked a loonng way and finally found the hostel, which was hiding in this little street, out of sight...I only found it because I saw a sign that said 宾馆 (hotel). Hmm, this is supposedly the international youth hostel that only people who can read Chinese characters can find (most hostels seem to scream Western Haven with all the English everywhere). Or if you just look at the google maps entry more closely next, I realized later.
Anyway, I dumped my stuff, put up some photos, and then went to 五道口, where there's a mall and restaurants. On of the way there, I realized that the mall was right next to BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University), which is where the orientation for my Spring semester begins.
I walked around the mall, which really made me miss the SIT group - we went there in December, at the end of the program. I saw a woman in a red coat and a white hat - for a moment I almost called out "Ellie!" Also, all this traveling alone might had some negative side affects on my behavior...ahaha, I've kind of taken to talking to myself.
I decided to try and find my future dorm for orientation, seeing as I'll have to go there on Wednesday. I figured it'd be better to know where it is so that I don't have to lug my stuff all around the gigantic campus (especially with the risk of bad weather - today was nice, not too cold, but Beijing can't trick me, I know how evil this winter can get...I'm not letting my guard down).
Anyways, I wandered around for so long. I was looking for dorm number #17. I knew it was gray. That was about it. I found number #16. I found #18. I found #19. I did not find #17. I asked three different people for directions. Nobody knew. Possibly because they weren't students (everyone is home, really - it's still New Years break). Then I found another #16 and got the feeling I was going about this the wrong way. Especially when I found a building that said #17 but was not gray. Argh. Was I looking at the wrong thing? They obviously weren't all dorms...but how else did people find buildings if not with the numbers they were marked with? No signs. No maps. Until I did find a map (about a second after I gave up). It had every dorm listed, except for dorm #17. Why? Then I heard two people pass behind me talking in French, and well, I couldn't resist just asking them by chance. And they knew!!!!
"They" being Diallo and Yacouba, two young men from Mali. They are enrolled in a business Chinese course at BLCU. They showed me where the dorm was - right around the corner, of course. Only a day and half before I go there for real!
Hmmm, I'm thinking Silk Market tomorrow. I want to get some of that yummy gelato they have there, which goes perfectly with the extreme heaters they have. I hope it's not all empty because of the New Year. Speaking of which, there are firecrackers currently going off right outside. Does it never end? Actually, yeah, does anyone know when New Year celebrations technically end?
So...at first, there were issues. With me and getting on the train. Weirdly, the number on my ticket did not match the number on my passport (apparently, they're supposed to). I was brought to a higher ranking...person around. She asked me if I bought the ticket. I said I did and I did not know why the number was wrong. I bought the ticket there (pointing at the ticket stalls) and I used this passport and it was me, not someone else and it totally wasn't my fault the number was wrong. Holding my ticket, she asked me how much I paid for it, which was easy to remember because I hadn't been expecting to pay so much (1045 yuan). She gave me back my ticket and let me go. Whew.
My fifteen hour train ride ended up being really nice and comfy. There was a TV at the end of the bed! Everything was new and shiny...I heard they just started using the fifteen-hour trains from Chengdu to Beijing in January, so that's probably why.
I shared my cabin with a family (father, mother, and toddler son). They were pretty nice, from Chongqing (which I really want to visit at some point). The mother was watching TV and laughing a lot, so I looked up to see what she was watching. And I totally did not expect to see La Grande Vadrouille. It's one of my favorite movies. I used to watch it every summer in Verton. Of course, this time it was dubbed over with Chinese, which was...kind of weird to watch. And some of the jokes got lost because some characters speak English and German in addition to French, although I pretty much know the movie line by line...like this:
Augustin: You come with me to pick up Peter.
Stanislas: No, you come with me to pick up MacIntosh.
Augustin: No, no, no...you - oh merde alors comment on dit ca...
Stanislas: Comment ca 'merde alors'? but alors you are French!
hahaha....I love that movie. And I totally still have a crush on MacIntosh.
Anyway, they played a lot of good movies and I ended up watching part of Roman Holiday and A World Without Thieves. Gregory Peck and Andy Lau. Good combination.
I got to Beijing at about 7:30 AM and almost didn't get let though (again...) because I'd misplaced my ticket. Oops. That was kind of my fault. I actually found it later but they let me go through anyways.
Took the bus, walked a loonng way and finally found the hostel, which was hiding in this little street, out of sight...I only found it because I saw a sign that said 宾馆 (hotel). Hmm, this is supposedly the international youth hostel that only people who can read Chinese characters can find (most hostels seem to scream Western Haven with all the English everywhere). Or if you just look at the google maps entry more closely next, I realized later.
Anyway, I dumped my stuff, put up some photos, and then went to 五道口, where there's a mall and restaurants. On of the way there, I realized that the mall was right next to BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University), which is where the orientation for my Spring semester begins.
I walked around the mall, which really made me miss the SIT group - we went there in December, at the end of the program. I saw a woman in a red coat and a white hat - for a moment I almost called out "Ellie!" Also, all this traveling alone might had some negative side affects on my behavior...ahaha, I've kind of taken to talking to myself.
I decided to try and find my future dorm for orientation, seeing as I'll have to go there on Wednesday. I figured it'd be better to know where it is so that I don't have to lug my stuff all around the gigantic campus (especially with the risk of bad weather - today was nice, not too cold, but Beijing can't trick me, I know how evil this winter can get...I'm not letting my guard down).
Anyways, I wandered around for so long. I was looking for dorm number #17. I knew it was gray. That was about it. I found number #16. I found #18. I found #19. I did not find #17. I asked three different people for directions. Nobody knew. Possibly because they weren't students (everyone is home, really - it's still New Years break). Then I found another #16 and got the feeling I was going about this the wrong way. Especially when I found a building that said #17 but was not gray. Argh. Was I looking at the wrong thing? They obviously weren't all dorms...but how else did people find buildings if not with the numbers they were marked with? No signs. No maps. Until I did find a map (about a second after I gave up). It had every dorm listed, except for dorm #17. Why? Then I heard two people pass behind me talking in French, and well, I couldn't resist just asking them by chance. And they knew!!!!
"They" being Diallo and Yacouba, two young men from Mali. They are enrolled in a business Chinese course at BLCU. They showed me where the dorm was - right around the corner, of course. Only a day and half before I go there for real!
Hmmm, I'm thinking Silk Market tomorrow. I want to get some of that yummy gelato they have there, which goes perfectly with the extreme heaters they have. I hope it's not all empty because of the New Year. Speaking of which, there are firecrackers currently going off right outside. Does it never end? Actually, yeah, does anyone know when New Year celebrations technically end?
Wow, girl, gotta pay attention to those tickets! You might have gotten lucky on that train. Then again maybe they figure if you're not obviously lying or acting suspicious, you're probably not really a major problem--but you can't bank on that!
ReplyDeleteGreat to be there early and get oriented like that. Funny about hearing French and finally getting pointed in the right direction.
And how could I never have heard of La Grande Vadrouille?! I looked it up and saw that it is one of the all-time most popular French films. Kathleen and I will have to check it out. Maybe it's on Netflix.
So by now you're through orientation and classes have started. Looking forward to hearing more. I thoroughly enjoy reading all of this. I'll pass along the word that you've put up more stories and photos.
I love you.
Dad