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Watercloset
Day 93
My weekend in Tianjin and Beijing was definitely one of my more favorite and more memorable times in China. Not only because of the sites and great time with friends, but because the adventure didn’t stop; and I mean that literally. The plan for us was to take a train from Shanghai to Tianjin on Friday night, arrive on Saturday morning, play ultimate, hitch a ride from the Beijing crew, hang out a bit and see the sites in Beijing and then take a train ride back home Monday and arrive on Tuesday morning. Like most plans…they worked out perfectly…and by perfectly I mean that we got the main plan correct. The smaller details could have been better though. Due to the fact that we spent way too much time at the Great Wall on Sunday, we were unable to buy train tickets for our Monday night trip…until Monday morning. We go to buy our train tickets Monday morning and everything seems fine. We find a good timed train to leave at 10pm and then arrive around 7am. Perfect…except there were no seats left…or beds…standing room only…not as planned. The entire day we tried figuring out how exactly we would be able to not have to sleep on the floor. We planned to arrive somewhat earlier so that we could put our stuff away and then spend all of our time in the dining cart until they kicked us out and then we would either hang out in the hard sleeping cabins pretending to read/work/study or we could hang out in the next best thing and wait til everyone was asleep and the cabin crew didn’t walk through the hallway: the bathroom.
We arrive just in time to the station to find that we made it to the wrong train entrance. So we start running around the station looking for another entrance or for someone to ask. We eventually see a large crowd that resembles a common sight in China. People flocking and herding like sheep, whom are all trying to cram into one entrance at the same time. We approach our train and see the dining cart empty, and then look ahead to see about 40 other standing only people. Like I said, the adventure never ends. Adam and I hop into our car and strike up a conversation a seater and then head to the dining cart with the other guys. The difference between the seater’s and the sleeper’s is like going from middle school into high school. Everything is bigger, fancier and doesn’t smell like people who don’t know what deodorant is. We get a booth and celebrate Sara’s birthday with a tasty cake and basically wait it out til we have to leave the dining cart. Time is slow when you watch it, and my life was in slow motion. Around 11pm the mean ol lady kicks us out and our plan is put into action. We each grab a seat in the sleeper’s and start either reading or in my case looking at all 1000 of my pictures. One, two, three-cabin workers pass me and I feel like I’m in the clear. Then some lady approaches me and starts speaking Chinese to me. I of course don’t understand and then she walks away smiling. I feel good; smiling is good, until she returns with someone who does speak English. I act dumb, give the puppy dog eyes, try my bargaining, but nothing works. I have lost. I basically get escorted back to the hard seats/floor where I find Adam and Jon too. I knew I should have just camped in the bathroom.
So we make friends and start playing card games. People in the train are super friendly and it is just amazing to me why they can’t be like this all of the time. Why only in a train do people decide to be nice and polite, but once they leave the enchanted doors of a train, the rudeness returns? People are having a kick out of our trophy and our limited Chinese knowledge and are just totally interested in everything we do. We play card games for about 2 hours and then people start falling asleep. Jon and Adam find spots on the floor and I decide to just stand and try to last as long as I can. I continue my stalking ways and just watch people, think about things, and start listening to Harry Potter. It is amazing what a good audio book does to time, so I thought it would do the same thing. My legs start hating me and I slowly make my way down to the filthy, spat upon, and dirty floor. Crossed legged, turns into the straight legs, which turns into the sprawl, which turns into lying down, which turns into sleep. 2 full hours of sleep. Ahhhhhh bliss. I awake to see that the dining cart is open again, so we Jon, Adam and I head back there and we see Phil and Sara. They survived, and they didn’t have to go into the bathroom. Phil used his panda charm to convince the captain that it was Sara’s birthday (she did have a birthday crown), and then he was teaching her Chinese. And Sara used her feminine cat charm begging the captain to not have them go back to the filthy, spat upon, dirty floor. So the captain agrees to allow them to sleep in the sleeper cart and then arrives with some blankets for them! We arrive into Shanghai right on time and then I head to work, dirty, tired and a complete zombie. So a lesson to all those who want to get on a train: work on your charm, and just stay in the bathroom.
My weekend in Tianjin and Beijing was definitely one of my more favorite and more memorable times in China. Not only because of the sites and great time with friends, but because the adventure didn’t stop; and I mean that literally. The plan for us was to take a train from Shanghai to Tianjin on Friday night, arrive on Saturday morning, play ultimate, hitch a ride from the Beijing crew, hang out a bit and see the sites in Beijing and then take a train ride back home Monday and arrive on Tuesday morning. Like most plans…they worked out perfectly…and by perfectly I mean that we got the main plan correct. The smaller details could have been better though. Due to the fact that we spent way too much time at the Great Wall on Sunday, we were unable to buy train tickets for our Monday night trip…until Monday morning. We go to buy our train tickets Monday morning and everything seems fine. We find a good timed train to leave at 10pm and then arrive around 7am. Perfect…except there were no seats left…or beds…standing room only…not as planned. The entire day we tried figuring out how exactly we would be able to not have to sleep on the floor. We planned to arrive somewhat earlier so that we could put our stuff away and then spend all of our time in the dining cart until they kicked us out and then we would either hang out in the hard sleeping cabins pretending to read/work/study or we could hang out in the next best thing and wait til everyone was asleep and the cabin crew didn’t walk through the hallway: the bathroom. 
We arrive just in time to the station to find that we made it to the wrong train entrance. So we start running around the station looking for another entrance or for someone to ask. We eventually see a large crowd that resembles a common sight in China. People flocking and herding like sheep, whom are all trying to cram into one entrance at the same time. We approach our train and see the dining cart empty, and then look ahead to see about 40 other standing only people. Like I said, the adventure never ends. Adam and I hop into our car and strike up a conversation a seater and then head to the dining cart with the other guys. The difference between the seater’s and the sleeper’s is like going from middle school into high school. Everything is bigger, fancier and doesn’t smell like people who don’t know what deodorant is. We get a booth and celebrate Sara’s birthday with a tasty cake and basically wait it out til we have to leave the dining cart. Time is slow when you watch it, and my life was in slow motion. Around 11pm the mean ol lady kicks us out and our plan is put into action. We each grab a seat in the sleeper’s and start either reading or in my case looking at all 1000 of my pictures. One, two, three-cabin workers pass me and I feel like I’m in the clear. Then some lady approaches me and starts speaking Chinese to me. I of course don’t understand and then she walks away smiling. I feel good; smiling is good, until she returns with someone who does speak English. I act dumb, give the puppy dog eyes, try my bargaining, but nothing works. I have lost. I basically get escorted back to the hard seats/floor where I find Adam and Jon too. I knew I should have just camped in the bathroom. 
So we make friends and start playing card games. People in the train are super friendly and it is just amazing to me why they can’t be like this all of the time. Why only in a train do people decide to be nice and polite, but once they leave the enchanted doors of a train, the rudeness returns? People are having a kick out of our trophy and our limited Chinese knowledge and are just totally interested in everything we do. We play card games for about 2 hours and then people start falling asleep. Jon and Adam find spots on the floor and I decide to just stand and try to last as long as I can. I continue my stalking ways and just watch people, think about things, and start listening to Harry Potter. It is amazing what a good audio book does to time, so I thought it would do the same thing. My legs start hating me and I slowly make my way down to the filthy, spat upon, and dirty floor. Crossed legged, turns into the straight legs, which turns into the sprawl, which turns into lying down, which turns into sleep. 2 full hours of sleep. Ahhhhhh bliss. I awake to see that the dining cart is open again, so we Jon, Adam and I head back there and we see Phil and Sara. They survived, and they didn’t have to go into the bathroom. Phil used his panda charm to convince the captain that it was Sara’s birthday (she did have a birthday crown), and then he was teaching her Chinese. And Sara used her feminine cat charm begging the captain to not have them go back to the filthy, spat upon, dirty floor. So the captain agrees to allow them to sleep in the sleeper cart and then arrives with some blankets for them! We arrive into Shanghai right on time and then I head to work, dirty, tired and a complete zombie. So a lesson to all those who want to get on a train: work on your charm, and just stay in the bathroom.
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