Adventures in China, two

Wednesday, December 7, 2011
5pm ish


A quick flashback to the trip itself, which I consider The Lost Decade. Flight out of Newark delayed by mechanical difficulties; some turbulence en route. The first 8 or 9 hours not too bad, 2 difficult hours, then had a nap and awoke excited about impending arrival. Got to Beijing late, and my connecting flight to Lanzhou had been cancelled anyway, even if I had been in time. The agent at the gate gave me a voucher for a free reschedule. Got through customs, found my bag, schlepped it all over to another terminal to talk to China Eastern, and was told “There might be a flight at 10. Check with me at 9pm.”

Sat on luggage for an hour or so, too tired to seek sustenance.

Flight out delayed by weather, left sometime after 10; actually slept for about an hour en route. Met Mr. Liang right outside baggage claim, and the driver brought us to Lanzhou by about 2am.

It was dark.

Bright spots: talked Chinglish with a five-year-old in Beijing airport; her big people, I think, did not shou Yingwen, but they were clearly proud that their little one had been watching the Zhongguo equivalent of Dora the Explorer. Met a young Chinese man who’d been in the States for 3 years and was returning home to Lanzhou to get a job. He bragged about Auburn football.

Okay, end of flashback. Today I had an excellent breakfast of tiny oranges and a Chinese bread and Starbucks instant (thank you goddess for Starbucks instant!!!), then class with my students from 10:40 to 12:20, mostly get-acquainted stuff and time for me to size them up (and, I’m sure, vice versa). They are writing homework for me, to turn in tomorrow, and tomorrow we will start a piece of reading. May also do the telephone scheduling activity, which they could write down as well. [Pairs of students sit back to back and make pretend phone calls to set up activities, so they have to know verbs, time expressions, phrases of acceptance or polite refusal; they end up with a week of lunch, dinner, movie, baseball, and dancing dates at specific times.]

After class I came home and vegged for a while; found that a neighbor’s net access is not password protected and got online to send mail. At about 3 I went out → this means I found my way home alone, and then to the supermarket (where I bought some taste-of-home Coke and Pringles) and to a restaurant and back home. A major triumph, considering how exceedingly difficult everything seemed yesterday.

At the restaurant I bought 4 delicious steamed, filled buns for about 50 cents. The hardest thing was ordering, since I don’t know the words for any kinds of foods, and the restaurant staff didn’t know any English. We got by with “I would like something to eat, not too expensive, not too large” and pointing. They asked if I taught at the daxue, and I said yes, I’d just arrived on Monday. “Thanks! See you later!”

I enjoyed walking around a bit. I haven’t seen any Westerners other than those in “our” building; we must be a sort of curiosity. I get lots of looks, but no one has spoken to me first. (Except for one nice fellow who saw me standing outside this morning, waiting for my student escort, and asked if I needed help.) The air seemed a little better today, but I wore a face mask, and I think I’ll continue to do so. Especially off the campus, where there is city traffic, the air is just plain bad. (And, the mask helps with breathing the cold air.)

Yes, it IS cold here, but it’s not Minnesota cold or Blacksburg-with-the-wind-blowing cold. And all the interior spaces are overheated, so I am moderating by (a) changing into a sleeveless top at home and (b) opening the door onto my enclosed balcony for brief periods. Also the air is very dry, indoors and out, so I’m using a lot of saline mist nasal spray and keeping a bowl of water sitting out, hopefully to evaporate.

They provided three large fluffy comforters, all of which I folded to sleep ON, not under, as the beds are very very hard. I only need one light cover, and so far the makeshift mattress has not been a problem. I will know that I’m truly rested when/if it becomes one.

It may not sound like a very active day, but I am one tired puppy! (Photos, some shopping, my living room.)