on the train

wow, what luggage:
-1 x 100 litre backpack (approx 20kg)
-1x 80 litre backpack (plus small backpack zipped onto outside) (approx 20kg)
-1 (approx 10 kg) suitcase (stuffed with 2 suits and several thick jackets!)
-1 (approx 10kg) rucksack
-1 laptop (approx 5 kg)
and strapped onto all these bags is a tent, a rubber sleeping mat, a scroll (painting) and a cycle helmet plus 2 other empty rucksacks!

quite a lot that it took 3 people to get it into taxi. After a dash around town for dinner and to get the key of my boss's apartment (where i'll be staying this week whilst looking fro other accomm, and cause he is in beijing for a couple days); i then dashed to station expecting a man with a trolley to help me. but i couldnt find anyone so had to carry all of above (1 big backpack on front, 1 on back, laptop around neck and in left hand was dinner +rucksack, right hand was suit case) into station. take it all off to go through x-ray machine. Then put it all on again. Then found a man with a trolley. Said my train is too soon so cannot help me. then told me to hurry up (leaving in 10 minutes).

I started walking, just about, sweating like crazy until i found another trolley man. he said the same thing. Now i was pissed. hot and sweaty, tired and in a hurry for the train. I wasted no time in telling him that the reason i needed him was cause i had little time to get my train. He refused to help me still -told me to hurry. i told him i cannot, unless he helps me! he walks off and 2 ladies (1 in 60s, 1 in 30s) take pity and each grab one of my smaller pieces of luggage (suit case and rucksack). Actually they could barely lift them and hard to share the rucksack between them both. Promptly we hobbled/ran off to the train, making it with several minutes to spare.

My plan was to arrive early, knowing form experience how little space there is for luggage and how much of a spectacle i make of myself normally with just 1 large bag and 1 small bag! now with 2 of each, and arriving 1 minutes before the train leaves... uh oh! After 2 other backpackers got on before me (takin up valuable luggage rack space) i went on. Actually I went in 1 bag at a time.. the whole carriage helps me move luggage around to find space more me. shoes are off, feet are on seats, laughter everywhere.. especially with teh12 yr old kid once i talk to him in chinese. Then i go back for more luggage.. and knock everyone out the way in the aisle..more luggage =more laughter (and disbelief!). I love this kind of experience -talk about an ice breaker.

Eventually its all sorted, i sit down. The little kid asks to swap seats with my neighbour so he can talk to me! yay... great conversations later and i am showing my photos on my laptop to him and another neighbour. practising chinese and making new friendswho all live in Xi'an (where i am about to go, and currently am friendless!). Since I have a window seat, I am now sitting here, typing off-line, an could not be happier.

The rest of the holiday with dad went well and it was a relaxing time. I read the wholoe biography of Mao (the unknown story) which is 650 pages in 4 days on the beach (MUST read for everyone interested in becoming a dictator and runing their country in order to get power!). Realised most readers of this probably have no clue about any thing like the cultural revolution, tibet, great leap forward or anything and will endaevour to put more short history into future posts!

Now after saying some goodbyes (some temporarily as i know i'll be back to beijing for work in a couple of months and cause everyone promises to visit me -and some to people leaving china) I am ready. Excited to meet new people, live in a new place that is so different to Beijing, excited to have such a great boss (more to come on him later I am sure), flexible job and so much more. This train journey sums up China really. As my dad said Chinese people are just so friendly! They are so interesting and so interested in (foreigners, foreign opinions etc), the atmosphere in the hard seats on these long journeys are fantastic. everyone talks to everyone else.. irregardless of age.

True -the beds are more comfortable but the atmosphere is no where close, and in the soft seats -its 100% silent. Hard seat -that is the way to go.

Everyone has been asking me about my salary in my new job.. well it should be enough to cover all my living expenses and chinese lessons. But exact job description and everything is still to be decided. Now, i need to get back to Song Chen Yang (12 yr old kid who has moved back to his seat, bored of my photos, but who i have to email the photo of me and him too) and the graphic designer guy (my actual neighbour -name unknown, but hopefully to become 1st friend in Xi'an!) and another guy who acually speaks some English. new times ahead. Finally i want to congratulate Rachel and James on their wedding that I missed... but send me the photos! and new word of the journey: bo ke (blog -one of those few chinese words that are based on english, but still written in chinese hanzi)