The Flight Experience

Looking back from where I am now, the plane ride over here doesn't seem like a big deal. Not at all - I mean, it was the first time that I had to actually use use my Chinese. It was the first time that it actually mattered... so, at the time, it was actually kinda thrilling.

In the morning after our farewell dinner at Shanghai, CIEE dropped us off at the... plane station.

Plane station?

What?

*thinks*

Airport! AH! I'm losing my English!
Not good - cuz I'm supposed to be teaching English.

So voila! There I was at the plane station with one giant luggage bag thing, a smaller one, a backpack, and two other Americans who didn't know a word of Chinese. I knew the name of my final destination (Baoding), but I didn't know what city we were flying into.

All I had was a piece of paper with my name and the flight number on it. After showing someone that piece of paper, they directed the three of us to a line with a big D.

When it was my turn, the guy at the ticket countered looked up at me.

"Where are you going?"
"I... uh. This is my flight number."
"Blahblahblahblah... Where are you going?"
"Sorry. My Chinese isn't so good. See this piece of paper? That is my flight number."
"Uh... you don't know where you are going?"
*points*
*sighs... takes passport, prints out a ticket, and hands everything to me*

He then weighs my bag, proceeds to tell me that they're too heavy, and points for me to go somewhere else. I nod - I have international luggage after all, and this was a domestic trip - then go to help the other two Americans.

More Chinese. More trouble communicating.
We take care of our baggage.
Rush to our gate.
And, finally, onto the plane to a hard-to-pronounce city called Shijiazhuang!

---

Three of us got on the plane.
Only two of us got off at Shijiazhuang.

May he rest in peace....
Or, eh, may he have a good time traveling to his final destination further out east.

In other news, during this two hour flight, I picked up a plastic spork.
Just in case you don't know what a spork is...

FORK + SPOON =



World's greatest invention since cardboard coffee cup holder thing...
Though I think the spork came before the cardboard coffee cup holder thing. Hm.

What came first? The cardboard cup holder, or the spork?

*thinks*

Yeah... It's just that those things don't exist here. I'm at a coffee shop trying to drink coffee, and... without those little cardboard holder things, the cup's waaaay too hot.

We miss the strangest things, huh?

Anyway, like the good old days in the US of A, flight attendants served entire meals to everyone in short, two-hour flights. Knowing that I'll be using mostly chopsticks this year, I decided that a spork would be an essential addition to my home. So I took it.

And, boy, am I glad I did. We will talk about the adventures of this handy spork another time in the future.

We got off the plane. I really really REALLY needed to go to the bathroom. Right by the baggage claim, there were - like in the States - public restrooms.

I went in.. and very quickly I learned two very important lessons:

1. I need to remember to bring my own toilet paper. I knew this before I came... I had just forgotten.

2. Public toilets in China are, for the most part, squatters.
SQUATTERS! I knew that before coming too. I just forgot. I had just gotten off the plane and I was half-asleep... so.. yeah. Understandable, I think.

And just in case you don't know what a squatter is:



And that is a very nice one. It's very clean, you see, and it flushes automatically. The ground around it is dry and not wet or covered with brown.. stuff... or with toilet paper and...

...You get the picture?

It is, however, supposedly very good for your body to relieve yourself that way - it's easier, I think. Scientifically and all that, whatever that means.

So what happened?

Simply put, I didn't go. Not right then.
I decided to hold it.

Got my bags. Hannah (the other American teacher going to the Agricultural University of Hebei with me from Baoding) and I stepped out and... stood.

And no one came to us.

People stared, yes. Hannah has blond hair. I blend right in, but Hannah has blond hair, you see, so we got a lot of curious glances. Still, we were confused - someone from the University was supposed to pick us up, see... and no one was there.

I asked around for a phone, gesturing just as much as I spoke... before I was directed towards a little convenience type... store-like-thing where they let me use their phone. I called the school up.

It'd be ok, I was told. The person coming to pick us up was stuck in traffic. He'll be there in a few minutes.

Ok. OK. Breathe. Hannah and I sat down at a little coffee/tea shop type thing. We got waters... and JACKPOT! They had a box of tissues on the table. I grabbed a bunch and bailed for the bathrooms.

On the other side of the welcome gate (outside of the baggage claim area), I peeked into each stall, looking for one that didn't smell as bad as the others. All the way to the end and... once again...

JACKPOT! A handicapped stall! And a western toilet!

Then... we'll skip over some details. Back at the coffee shop. We're worried that the guy from the university wouldn't be able to find us, so we decide to step back outside into the main area by the doors. We figure... Hannah's blond hair would make us easy to spot.

Mr. Kou - someone from the university who works at the Foreign Affairs Office there - found us. We hopped onto a bus and headed for Baoding.

The trip from Shijiazhuang (the capital of our province, Hebei) to Baoding (our future home and final destination) was fairly uneventful. I slept. Watched bits of a Chinese movie (it involved intense martial arts, fantasy, and old costumes), noticed that there was a hot water boiler and tea available on the plane, and slept some more.

Next post? Arriving in Baoding and settling in.
Stay tuned until then.