This post comes to you live from the 6:27am Yinchuan train to Beijing!
While waiting for my train to begin its 11-hour journey, I thought I would write a quick (and wildly overdue) post summarizing my recent travels, and give a preview of those on which I am about to embark.
On Christmas Day evening, I made my way to the Yinchuan airport (all by myself, no less!), caught a plane to Beijing, spent the night at a friend's, and left again very early the next morning with another friend, Thomas, for the main Beijing Railway Station. We had a delicious McDonald's breakfast before boarding our 6am train. Seven hours later, we found ourselves in China's winter wonderland, Harbin, home of the annual International Snow and Ice Festival.
Over the next few days, Thomas and I saw a whole buncha things. We walked up and down Harbin's beautiful Walking Street, Zhongyang Street, lines with shops and restaurants; went skiing in China's largest ski resort in Yabuli, two and a half hours away; visited the Siberian Tiger Reserve and saw dozens of gorgeous tigers...tear apart a couple lambs; and we walked around Zhaolin Park, marveling at the ornate and impossibly detailed ice sculptures that lined the sidewalks. All the while we'd occasionally stumble upon some old Russian church or building or restaurant, which was pretty neat to see. Harbin is so far northeast, it is has close proximity to and great influence from Russia. All I all, Harbin was one of the coolest places I've ever visited, both literally and figuratively, and I'll never forget it.
On December 30 I returned to Yinchuan after two separate train rides (from Harbin and from Beijing, respectively), and the next very early morning I set out for the airport once again, this time headed for warm and beachy Nha Trang, Vietnam. This particular trip was a somewhat annual thing for my boss's family and my co-workers. The training school at which I teach is so small, the staff is very close and is more like another family to each other than anything else. Many of my co-workers are around my age, but their families live in another province entirely. So, my boss and his wife, despite not being much older than their staff, have become parental figures to many of my co-workers. And what do mom and dad do when their kids have done a really good job at school? Take them to Vietnam, of course! They were kind enough to treat us to plane tickets, although we had to cover the rest of the expenses. It was way more than I would have spent traveling on my own, but I figured it would be a good bonding experience.
Ever wanting to make things more exciting, I definitely forgot my Vietnam visa the morning of our flight out to Nha Trang. Dohhh. That was pretty annoying, but it was a good opportunity for me to remember how blessed I am with resources to make my life easier and people who are so eager to help me. Anyway.
There were exponentially more Russian people in Nha Trang than there were in Harbin, which I thought was a little strange. Nha Trang is a huge vacation spot for Russians, apparently! New Years night we went to our resort's NYE Gala. It was by far one of the weirdest and most unintentionally hilarious parties I've ever attended. Over the next week, I worked on my "tan" at the beautiful, white sandy beach; ate my weight in fresh and flavorful Nha Trang lobster, crab, and snails; drank authentic cà phê sữa đá, iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk; explored the bustling city center and caught a colorful glimpse of local Nha Trang life; and found my way to a few local religious sites, including an old Catholic Church and two aged and impressive Buddhist temples, all of which had incredible views of the city once I walked to their top levels.
On my last full day in Nha Trang, I was hit with some food poisoning that kept me pretty stationary for the second half of the day. Before it got too bad, though, I took a pleasant, long solo walk along the Cai River. At one point, as I was admiring the colors of the boats on the water, I passed an opening in the railing and saw some stairs leading down to the river. A man was peeing in it. I quickly averted my eyes once I realized what he was doing, but not before he turned his head, noticed me, and said, "Oh, I'm sorry!" I smiled and shrugged it off, keeping my eyes on my path and never breaking my step. Then, somehow deciding all hope was not lost to have a conversation, he added, "Where are you from?" His voice trailed as I kept walking. He had been peeing into the river for the entire duration of this interaction. I thought it was all very amusing as I chuckled and continued on my way.
On January 6 (2017!), we all flew back to Yinchuan. I was hit with a rather large wave of culture shock upon my return; I think I was surrounded by English speakers and Western-er life for just long enough that I grew too used to it after growing so used to the rhythm and differences of life in the very traditional, old school city of Yinchuan. It took a few weeks of teaching and busy bodying, but I eventually readjusted to Chinese life..... Only to leave again today! This morning marks the beginning of my Spring Festival travels. Today is leg 1 of 7: headed to Beijing. After that I'm off to Hong Kong via Shenzhen; Singapore; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and finally back to Yinchuan. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, but I'm so excited for the adventures I'm about to have!
It's at times like this when I catch myself thinking, "Megan...who ARE you?!" Ha. I just can't believe how blessed I am to be where I am and to have the opportunities that I have. This life definitely has its hard days (srsly so hard sometimes, you guys), but if it allows me to explore new places and meet interesting people and serve the Big Guy Upstairs all at once? Then yeah, it's worth it. It's all worth it.
Apologies for the lack of pictures in this post, I'm not really sure how well that would work over my phone browser. There will for sure be pictures next time, though! Stay tuned. Until then, Happy Chinese New Year, and see you soon. ^_^
No comments:
Post a Comment