choo choo train

last weekend i took a train to a nearby city that's about 2-4 hours away (depending on the train you take). trains are very cheap, convenient, and interesting in china.

i'm a pretty frugal person so i got a sitting ticket for a 3hr train as opposed to a 2 hour fast fancy train (that i ended up taking back for the first time ever, it's like an airplane on a train!). boy, was it a busy, crowded train and quite the China experience!!

waiting in line for the train to come i had to climb over a million rice bags, squeeze and push (it's normal in china to push with crowds and crowds of people) into small spaces and pile into the train... once i sat down there were people ALL kinds of people around me, right next to me, their bags in front of me, people standing and squatting in the aisles, climbing over me... thankfully, i've somewhat adjusted to the idea of NO personal space so this didn't bother me too much. the smells did though. the lady next to me was chomping on a HUGE piece of rubber pink like salami, liver, thing.. and 2 loafs of bread. it was amazing. i must admit it was hard to find joy in that moment and smell! then the little carts would come by with fruit, nuts, and chicken feet that you can buy and other random people selling their own things... (remember, the aisles are packed with people and their hugs bags of who knows what!)

one seller was quite memorable. he was pretty well dressed with a portable microphone and was selling the magic cloths in nicely packaged tubes. he even gave a nice demonstration of dunking his own head in water and wrapping his hair in the cloth and in 13 seconds later it was dry! it almost interested me but it was too "expensive" haha (about 20 yuan, less than 3 US dollars)... the people around me thought it was also expensive and didn't buy any- they instead shouted out "yi kuai, yi kuai!" (one yuan, one yuan! about 15 cents haha)



since i look like just another chinese person most people didn't stare at me except for the people next to me when i was reading an English book and practiced writing my Chinese characters. i eventually had to ask someone about the train stations, so i decided to ask a nice looking girl across from me. the moment i talked to her, it felt like the whole train stopped talking to listen to me. it was awkward. thankfully they didn't ask too many questions after or stare at me more after.

i don't know how "real" looking foreigners do it- with constant attention all the time... i only get it when i open my mouth!! haha my patience and compassion for the crowds around me was small. i was easily irritated, annoyed, tired, and didn't want to talk to people around me. i wonder what JC would have been like on a chinese train... probably a lot more loving and compassionate for the people pushing, smoking, spitting, shouting, and eating smelly foods. it's easy to love my students and chinese friends who are sweet, kind, fun, and cute... but harder to love those i don't know and who are very different than i am. they need a savior too, just like i do!

so that's my train experience in a big nutshell :) there's a lot that i need to learn, grow, and be refined in... i'm a work in progress!

pictures and videos don't do justice to the real deal but here's a small glimpse of 11 seconds of the train ride! enjoy!