Chance encounters
My chance encounters with people on the way here have all been very happy and helpful ones. Bank employees in Hong Kong were polite, if not always helpful, but random strangers went out of their way to assist the poor (ahem, older) American.
While waiting in the Hong Kong MTR station (on the wrong side, I might add), a woman about my age or somewhat younger launched into an elaborate exposition about maintaining one’s health, referring frequently to some expert whose name I never quite got. Her English was spotty, but the gist of her monologue was that one should stand up straight (my shoulder bag had me hunched over, I guess) and breathe fully through the nose and out through the mouth. She also advised eating correctly and drinking a lot of water.
Why she started into this discussion I can only guess (I was out of breath climbing stairs maybe), but I was standing on the platform intently studying my map of Hong Kong, trying to decide if I was on the northbound platform or the southbound. After letting her expound for a while, I asked if I were on the right platform. She said no, and then led me over to the other side of the station and into the train, all the while offering advice on eating, drinking and breathing. Mercifully, she did not follow me when I got off at my stop, but returned to the northbound side to go her way.
Leaving Hong Kong, as I said, I had to lug my bags from the hotel down two flights of stairs to the Yau Ma Tei station, then up two more flights at the other end. As in every big city, people are rushing hither and thither, but one young man without a word grabbed my big bag and helped me carry it up the stairs, then went on his hurried way.
The gray hair helps, I guess.
Changsha was a zoo. I knew where the train station was, and began trudging toward once the rain stopped. As I passed the ticket office (mistakenly), a local offered to carry my bag for 10 yuan. As I related already, his help was a little misplaced, since I needed a ticket first, he toted the bag to the station, helped me get directions on how to buy a ticket, carried the bag out again, and accompanied me to the ticket office. Mind you, this was no mean feat, given the sheer number of train passengers teeming around the place. He waited with me in the ticket line, and when it was clear everything was fine, he asked for his money and took off. We accomplished all this business without him knowing a word of English, and me just knowing how to say “thank you.”
In the station, as I related already, two young men with some English skills enabled me to locate the right waiting room for my train, helped me make a phone call, and directed me to wait for the signs to light up for the boarding queue.
Finally, in the train, there was a bit of confusion regarding seating. As best as I can tell, ticket sellers overbook the trains. My ticket had a car number indicated, but no seat number. Blithely, I accepted the direction of one of the conductors, who directed me to an empty seat. It and all the others in the car were already sold to other passengers. Again, I guess age has its advantages, as one of two college students volunteered to give up his seat for me, since his stop was before mine.
It’s this kind of behavior that restores one’s faith in humanity.
September 8th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Dude, tru dat! Seriously, though, Ariane is so well-behaved it’s almost sick. Not really sick, but just surprising…except not really because she’s a French child and not spoiled rotten. There is a such thing as too sweet for her (unlike Savannah) and she only tries to weasel her way out of eating lots of salad or tries to add more cheese or eat more cookies. But she generally obeys her parents and totally respects me. I’m in au pair heaven, no kidding!
September 8th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Are you blogging all this?
My students are so well-behaved, it’s eerie. After the often raucous times at SFHS, I feel like I’ve landed in teacher heaven.
Sort of. While they are quiet while I talk, they chatter (especially the sophs) while other students are presenting. I’ve had to remind them to be quiet more than once.
On the other hand, getting them to say anything in class (especially the sophs) is like pulling teeth. They do not want to make mistakes, and all my reassuring has not quit them of the habit yet.
Good to hear about Ariane (a rocket shares her name, so be careful!). You truly lucked out.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:27 am
Dude, didn’t I tell you? I revived my darcyenfrance LiveJournal account. I used it last time I was in France. Check it out: http://darcyenfrance.livejournal.com
I’m also keeping a food journal on my computer and will start to write a hardcopy journal. Karen and Randy keep telling me I ought to actually WRITE out a journal rather than just type it. They’re right. You should, too!!
Also, what the HELL was I thinking? That was the first week. hah I’ve had a little bit of a rollercoaster of emotions since then, but we’re working on figuring out the fine line between authority figure/cool person.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 am
Also, why was I just labelled as a spammer? Because I’ve commented more than once today? Or was I not paying attention and I didn’t type in the code thing? I didn’t even see it.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:09 am
They’ve told me the same thing. I back up my site periodically, so I can collate all these posts and maybe weave them into a real narrative at some point.
As for the spam blocker, yeah, my Akismet antispam engine is pretty aggressive. If too many posts come from the same IP address in too short a time, they’ll be blocked as spam. I think I have set it up so your IP address is on the whitelist. We’ll see …
Apparently, we can have avatars now. That’s new since I changed to a newer WordPress theme. So, I’ll tinker with that, too.