Saturday
I arranged to meet with HZQ and her roommate at about eleven in the morning in order to go to the train station and get my ticket to Xian. My plan has me leaving on the twenty-sixth and staying with Debra for about a week while she finishes her classes. It is a twelve hour ride and I wanted a night train and a bunk, that way I would be able to arrive somewhat rested.
It turned out that HZQ came alone because it was a Saturday and her roommate was still in bed. So, the first thing we did was to head for the train station in order to get a ticket. It also turned out that this is something HZQ had never done before. It seems that she just gets the ticket for where she is going on the day that she is going.
The whole idea of purchasing tickets in advance is foreign to the Chinese. Even air tickets are purchased at the timer of flight. If a ticket is purchased through normal channels in China there is no discount for early purchases; in fact, there is a small (5 RMB surcharge).
As far as flight goes, we have yet to meet a non westerner (okay, Roc from
HZQ and I were discussing this while we were in line at the train station. She mentioned that she normally gets standing tickets so there is never a question of getting one for when she wants it. After all, a train may have a fixed number of seats and berths; however, there is no limit to the amount of standing space, just stand a little closer.
It turned out that the advance tickets can not be purchased at the normal ticket window so we went trekking around the train station. Due to a misunderstanding, which seems to be common due to differences in dialect, we were sent to the freight office where were told that they cold take my baggage, but not me. This is not what we wanted. So, we then walked some more and found the advance booking office where the people took a short break to tell us that they were at lunch and would not be back at work for about three hours.
They did suggest that there was an advance ticket office at the Long Distance Bus Station. So, off we went again. After several attempts, we found the advance booking office and no one was there. There was no signage stating when they were expected tom return and soon the others, who were also waiting, wandered off; we did the same.
At that point we took a bicycle taxi to the bank, which also sells advance tickets, and discovered that the ticket office would not open for a couple more hours. At this point we decided to go do something else.
I have been missing my mp3 player and decided to replace it. There is no real way of replacing it with an iPod in
I got an inexpensive 1 GB model. All I can say is that I can see why the iPod changed the mp3 player market. For all intents and purposes, this thing is unusable.
I purchased it so that I would be able to listen to music on my trip, during the long train stretches. However, it is so complicated to use that I do not even think I will be bringing it.
There is simply no comparison between the interface on the iPod and the other players. I chose this model because it was the only one that said that it was compatible with OS X. However, I discovered that compatible simply meant that it has a USB port. It simply does not meet a minimum basic standard of usability; so, I now have another failed experiment in my attempt to find some way to not be carting my computer to class every day.
After purchasing this mp3 player, which I later determined to be unsuitable, we then went to lunch. After lunch I went looking for a replacement bicycle, the weekend I got sick my bicycle was also stolen. We found one that I likes and is the same model as the Australians, Dez and Lynn have. I have test ridden theirs and determined that it will meet my needs; even if it is not as fast as a pure road bike. At that Point I did something that I have not done before. I carried a passenger. HZQ sat on the rack, side saddle, as is the practice for women here, and we rode back to the bank.
By the time we arrived at the bank I was getting more practiced at riding with a passenger, even if I was amazed at her ability to stay on the rack with my initial wobbling. She went in and got my ticket, the bank did insist on my confirming that I wanted a night train; it seems that day trains are more popular.
HZQ insisted that I write what I wanted in Chinese. Her reason was sound; she wanted to be sure that I would be able to book a ticket for myself if I need to.
We then rode back to the college. She stated that she enjoyed that I was able to ride reasonable fast. We went back along the river and it was a nice ride. Michelle, who saw us when we got to the campus could not restrain herself in remarking how very Chinese we looked, riding that way.
While we had been working on her exam preparation throughout the day, working out of her book, that she had brought, at lunch and at other times; when we returned to the campus she returned to her dorm to study and I went looking for a new place to keep my bicycle.
The rest of Saturday evening was spent continuing to grade papers. I had to turn in all of my grades on Monday. It did not help that they did not ever tell us how they wanted the grades to be calculated; after all, the instructions are printed on the grade chart that we were to use. It seems to have never occurred to them that the instructions are printed in Chinese.
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