Today I was putting away things (as usual my room's messy) when I came across these Chinese train tickets. Forgotten tickets.. Tianjin-Shanghai..Beijing - Tianjin..
Train tickets full of stories..memories..smells..joy and nostalgia. Words and tears.
Distance...trains..people... noodles..hot water...LOVE…
Long time ago. I feel it was long ago.
My first train ride in China. Tianjin - Shanghai. Two years ago.
I see now Number 7. Was I lucky?!!!
That day I was hurrying to catch the train on time. Arrived at the station the very last minute…uufff…I made it. Then..I see a queue long as the longest snake..WHAT!!!! I was totally confused where to go, what to do. My Chinese sucked at that moment. Nobody speaks English. :@
Just hundreds of eyes, staring at me. The only foreigner there. Lost. Lonely. After half an hour, I survived. I’m on the train. Oh, well, let me see the ticket, the seat number. A? The upper bed. WHAT!!! How can I climb up there?! I never climbed a single tree in my life.:/ Well, I decided to observe Chinese people. Oh, no they’re climbing it so easily. As if they were born acrobats.
It’s getting late. Oh I have to do it. Right now!! ..Inhale..exhale.A leg here, a leg there. I hope nobody saw me. And I’m up there. But I can’t stand straight. Just in a horizontal position. Ok. I can sleep, I guess.
Midnight. Somebody is snoring. NOOOO..Everybody is snoring..LOUDLY…Hate snoring. Hate..hate…:(
My MP3 player’s dead. When will the night be over?
2 am. The train stopped. What’s going on? We’re attacked? Train accident? Well, Im alive, right? No crash, then. Hmmm.
And there is this guy who tried to test his English. It turned out my Chinese was far better than his English. He said there was a lot of snow. People had been cleaning it away for some time. We couldn’t do anything but wait.and wait...
After 4-5 hours of snail slow moving we are heading to Shanghai. At a normal speed.
7 am. What’s that smell? What’s that noise? Oh, Those instant noodles. And people slurping them…I wanna sleep!!!!!
12 pm. Still in train. The train was supposed to arrive at 6 am.
No more water. No food left. Just eyes still staring at me. Asking me question about my country, people, habits….Endless list. Answers? Just short and simple.
5 pm. We are in Shanghai. Late 12 hours.
And Shanghai full of snow, It didn’t have snow the last 70 years. But that’s another story. For Shanghai people and snowmen.
Oh, did I say that I love China and Chinese people and Chinese food.
Memories..Just a reflection in the mirror of the past.
Speaking of trains, I have a friend and a colleague, Ana who is crazy about trains and is a passionate postcard collector. Her train postcard collection is just wonderful. I dedicate these photos to her, wishing her to have her longed-for train ride to Norway (or wherever she wants).
Ептен ме потсетија возовите на тебе. Ај се гледаме/пиеме скоро.
Hugs,
D.
I practiced my Chinese with the students going back to their hometowns.
See the upper bed? That's the third level, and you need to be skillful to get up there.
What I really admire is their waiting. Such patience!
