Sounds Un-blog worthy doesn’t it? Don’t worry it is blog-worthy. I needed to buy train tickets for Linda, Margie and myself from Shanghai to Hangzhou and Hangzhou to Shanghai. I had looked up all the different train schedules, gotten the correct dates and train numbers written down, so I was sure I could successfully purchase them without being fluent in Chinese and pissing off the travel agent too much. There is a convenient Xiasha satellite ticket office where you can purchase your train tickets located a couple of block from WuMei. I figured this was way easier than going all the way into the Hangzhou Train station to buy them (hour and a half each way) and I had the day off. So with a bottle of water, my iPod, my papers, my Foreign Expert ID Book (you need and ID card to buy tickets) I walked the mile to the bus stop, rode to WuMei and walked the mile to the ticket office. When I rounded the last corner I was sort of shocked when I saw how long the line was. I almost turned around, but I was determined not to deal with this during my vacation. Since it was right before the National Holiday week there were hundreds of students with the same idea. See Picture Above – which is only half the line! I was lucky enough to stand behind 3 kids from another college that were actually willing to talk to me. This meant I could use my iPod to show off my pictures of Zac, Nicole and Sadie instead of quietly listening to another NPR Car Talk. Cindy, Stilwell, King and I talked as we slowly crept closer to the ticket window. Three hours (yes, it really was 3 hours!) later we finally arrive. Cindy, an English Major (lucky me), has already made sure she understands exactly what I need and the trains I am hoping to get tickets for. We tell the agent the dates, times and destinations we need. I hear the words I never expected to hear “meiyou” (may-yo) which mean “Have Not”. I discover that you are not allowed to purchase tickets here more than 10 days before you need them. I needed them 14 days in advance -- So much for planning ahead.
There are so many things that I as an American take for granted. Purchasing travel tickets being one of them. With the Internet, phone, credit cards, e-tickets, travel agents, and the ability to speak the language it is usually a 20 to 40 minute job to make any short or long term travel plans. America seems to encourage planning ahead whereas in China you have to readjust often and quickly. As a perfect example, yesterday (Sept 25th) we were notified as to what classes we needed to make up Sept 30th (when I am flying to Beijing) and Oct 7th (when we are in Shanghai). I had to quickly get permission to reschedule a class on Sept 30th but I am still not sure about the Oct 7th classes because I wasn’t able to get train tickets today. Oh well, I guess it will all work out.
The three hours wasn’t a total waste of time, I met 3 really nice kids and we ended up walking to the KFC together and sharing a meal. You just have to be extra, extra flexible if you live in China and not get too frustrated when things don’t go as planned – cause there is no planning here.
