4 April 2008
An interesting day indeed. Flying out of Syracuse was delayed yesterday for the weather in Atlanta and subsequent decision by the airplane team to add more fuel, lending further to the need to de-ice. This made my layover in Atlanta that was supposed to be nearly two into a mad dash from terminal D to terminal E for my flight to Shanghai. Once on board, a seat in the same row as mine was double booked and one of those ticket holders was in my seat. As to not break up a family, I agreed to another seat and ended up sharing a row of 3 seats with “Jenny” a Chinese woman from Wixu (northwest of Shanghai by 1 our) who has lived in Boston for 10 years. She taught me Chinese numbers as she took over my knitting project. She was amazed at the size of knitting needles (US 19) I used as she had learned to use tiny ones for knitting socks as a youth. I finished one scarf I had been working on, and she kept doting on it with her hands. I ended up giving it to her and she was quite please, I think, though she would have to cut off the straggling ends of the yarn as I didn’t take my scissors as carry-on as I had planned. She taught me food words, too: niúròu (beef), ji (chicken), zhūròu (pork). Also of importance, I learned the words for “Where is the bathroom? “ Her son is in America, just graduated last year in finance. She is coming home to visit her 2 sisters, one in Shanghai and one in Wixu, as well as her father in Wixu.
After many hours of restless sleep in uncomfortable positions, we landed in Shanghai, after flying over a very wide and muddy looking river that reminded me of the Mississippi.
Much to my dismay, my wait at the luggage claim ended in no bags, which I suppose I expected since I had to nearly run to catch the flight. The trip to the claim counter was not bad as the youthful looking Chinese woman spoke very good English – my only anxiety was that I had no idea of the address which to ask for my suitcases to be delivered. I had at least packed an extra pair of underwear and had sweatpants, a t-shirt as well as my suit I had changed into at the end of the flight. I would get by, even if the only shoes I had were my slippers and hiking boots.
Outside the gate area at the end of a long throng of Chinese people standing on either side of a roped-off walkway, holding signs for this passenger or that. I was desperately looking for the one that said “UPSTATE” whilst so many Asian faces gaped at me. Having the stress of no luggage, the weariness of travel and this unsettling feeling of being the center of attention, my anxiety rose. What if no one was there to collect me. I had not remembered to write down the phone numbers of contacts I had. Amid the flow of Chinese conversation, “Sarah!” wrung true from Trish’s mouth and my head whipped about in relief. Two “blondes” by Chinese standards were amongst the crowd and another Chinese man, who did not speak English, with them: our driver to Hang Zhou, two hours away by car. I found much respite in the fact that Trish and Shannon were there though found it odd that our driver would not make eye contact with us.
Being shy about trying to speak Mandarin from a little book, I found myself procrastinating for 30-45 minutes before trying to express myself to our driver. Shannon had a missing bag, too, and despite her efforts and 2 days in Shanghai, still had not received them. She had talked to him in English and he finally just called the contact we had been emailing before our trip, Ms. Tang. I tried to say the words, “I lost my luggage,” but only succeeded in communication after handing over the book and pointing and saying “Tang.” I then called Ms. Tang on his cell phone and on the other end, good, but hesitant English explained to me that Dr. Ni, the doctor who would greet us at the hospital, would help.
Along the way, we stopped at what must have been a service area. Our guide said something in Chinese, the only word of which I recognized was “cѐsuŏ” or bathroom. I cannot say this word successfully, but I understood. The girls didn’t need to go, but I happily did. I had forgotten about what I had read and was surprised when I opened the stall door and there was no seated toilet. There was a white ceramic basin of sorts in the floor with a foot pedal for flushing. Then I remembered about the squatting toilets and that I needed the toilet paper I had packed for such occasions.
Also, this was my first introduction that MANY people smoke here.
Much of the trip was filled with our idle chatter. Our chauffer didn’t speak and once we had run ourselves out of topics, he turned on the radio and continued our approach to Hang Zhou, where we will spend the next several weeks.
The streets of Hang Zhou were very busy and crowded with cars, bicycles and pedestrians. Maneuvering the van seemed to be of some great fete to us as our driver finessed through so many situations that would have made most American drivers nervous. We were met in a parking lot by a woman, who was not Dr. Ni, and two young girls, one of which spoke English. She is the daughter of the woman she explained and the other girl is her cousin. She would be our translator for the evening. She is all of fourteen, we later learned and her Chinese namewas a loss for me, so she said her “American name” was “Summi.” After dinner, she admits she has been quite nervous about this evening, but she has done so well with communicating with us. She seems so young and so old. She helped me ask her mother for help in calling the airline to disclose an address to which my “packages” could be delivered.
Our home for the next month is a villa near the hospital, not in the hospital as the last group of students had. We were greeted by an elderly couple who live here and care for it. They speak no English, but seem pleasant as they smile and laugh easily. There was some musical rooms played as they decided where to put each of us. We have our own rooms with a bed, desk, TV (only Chinese channels) and bathroom with stand-up shower, Western toilet and sink. The shower is just out of the wall and the drain is actually in the floor, which is continuous with the whole bathroom. We also have access to a small kitchen with a stove, microwave and fridge as well as a washing machine, of which the elderly couple seemed quite proud. The old man showed us what setting to use. I bet I am going to love this couple by months end.
Unexpectedly, we do not have access to the internet in our rooms as did the last group. We will have in the hospital, but we will not be introduced to the hospital until Monday. I was able to text Andrew and I am in hopes that he called my mothers as they were both worried about this trip.
Tomorrow, West lake and Tuesday, Beijing.
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