CHINA: Day 10

Saturday May 26, 2012

This morning we all loaded up our stuff and hopped into the vans to head to the train station.  We were all extremely glad that Joe had reserved some vans to get us to the train station rather than making us do that whole luggage on the subway adventure that we had done the day we got here.  I probably would have gotten a taxi for myself if my other option was to do that again.  But, I obviously wasn’t the only one who felt that way. So we took vans.

I was a little nervous for the train station when we got there.  Joe and Sharlet had told us that it was sooo important that we all stay together once we got in here because if we got separated we would never find each other again.  And, of course, we were expecting it to be very crowded (it’s China, it’s always crowded).  So, I was a little stressed that I would get separated in the throngs of people and then I would be stuck in Beijing forever.  It ended up not actually being that bad.  There were a lot of people, but nothing too crazy, and the train station was pretty much one huge, long room so that wasn’t too complicated.  We got there pretty early so we had time to grab a chocolate muffin.  We also had time to learn that the restrooms were squatters and, coincidentally, discovered that we didn’t have to go that bad as soon as we discovered that.  It’s been over a week now and I still haven’t used a squatter. 

The train ride was pretty uneventful.  We slept, watched movies, played Fruit Ninja, and laughed at Dallas’s extremely loud snoring.  It was fun to see the countryside part of China that we really hadn’t gotten a lot of yet.  The farmland and landscape is a lot different than what you would see in the states, but so pretty.  I was also surprised to see that the smog was just as bad out in the middle of nowhere as it was in the city.  There is just so much of it!

When we got to the train station, we offloaded and were met by some nice men from our hotel holding a sign for us.  They took some of our luggage off our hands and led us out into the parking lot where the hotel vans were waiting (again, so much nicer than hauling all of my luggage through the subways and streets of Beijing).  The ride to our hotel was long, but it was fun listening to our hotel man tell us about Shanghai, and to look out the window and see what an incredible city it is.  It’s much different than Beijing, but I can already tell that I like it.  The city is HUGE and modern and has a much cleaner feel to it than Beijing does.  It’s less about the traditional, Chinese culture stuff and more about Chinese business.  I have decided that I like Beijing better to vacation to because you can learn a lot more about the country’s culture there, but if I were to live in China, I would rather live in Shanghai because it feels more Western and upscale.

Our hotel is the Holiday Inn Express which, compared to what we have been staying in, feels like something ten times better than a Holiday Inn.  We are pretty excited about these new accommodations.  We also aren’t in a sketchy alley anymore and the subway station is now about a 3 minute walk from us rather than 20.  I’m okay with that. 

We had about 15 minutes in the hotel to put our stuff down and get excited about how soft the beds are, before we met downstairs to head to the tailor shop.  The subway system in Shanghai is a lot crazier and hard to maneuver than the one in Beijing.  We almost lost Kenz and Avery at our first transfer.  It’s just a crazy system and the millions of people all moving in different directions makes the whole thing really tricky.

The tailor shop looks a lot like the Pearl Market, only all the booths are different little tailor shops rather than the large variety of things at the Pearl Market.  Roger and Paige Bird, Americans with SVU ties who now live and work in Shanghai, met us at the tailor shop to help direct us to the shops that they use and trust.  We got there not long before closing time so we were kind of in a rush.  Between that and the fact that I was being picky and indecisive, I ended up not getting any dresses made.  It just didn’t work out.  Oh well.  Lots of the girls got dresses and the boys all got suits and dress shirts made.  And, of course, it was all super cheap.  Gotta love China.

By the time we got done at the tailor shop, the group was verging on ravenous with how hungry we all were.  We literally hadn’t eaten all day.  Some had grabbed food on the train or on the street around the tailor shop, but some of us had had a muffin at 9 in the morning and literally nothing since then.  It was now about 8 at night.  We have already learned that the boys get hangry (hunger induced anger) very easily.  So of course they had been at that point for a while and it was only getting worse.  I never thought I had that problem, but between being starving and being frustrated about not getting a dress, I was starting to fear for the lives of anyone who said the wrong thing to me at that moment.  We were not a happy group.  We were trying to decide where the best place would be to go eat when the Birds stepped in and offered to feed us at their house.  They are angels.  While we were taking the subway to their house, they took their car and went and got take-out from a pretty decent fast food Chinese restaurant.

We loooove the Birds!!

Their apartment was beautiful and the food was great (and there was tons of it).  The place was pretty quiet there for a little bit while we all just shoved food into our mouths, and our moods slowly improved.  I can’t even tell you how much we love the Birds after tonight.  They are awesome.  I have also decided that I could probably have Paige’s life.  Her husband owns the company Abbott in Shanghai.  They have a gorgeous apartment, a nice car complete with a driver, great benefits through the company that allow them paid for trips to the states, and she spends her time shopping and exploring Shanghai.  If you are going to live outside the country, that is the way to do it.  I’m starting to be more and more open to the idea of living in China (or any other country).  But probably only when I’m married and can have a life like the Birds.

After dinner we chatted for a little while, took some pictures, and then headed back to the hotel.  We were so exhausted by the time we got there.  Thank goodness for our incredibly comfortable beds!