Two Day Trip back to Changsha
Trip Start
Aug 25, 2010
1
72
84
Trip End
Jul 05, 2011
Where I stayed
What I did
Visited with former students, current friends
Changsha, Hunan, China
Sunday, October 23, 2011
+ Lisa was nice enough to drive us to the Guangzhou North station, which is closer to our school.
- We had to wait about 2 hours for a train as a) not all high speed trains stop at this station and b) there were lots of people traveling.
+ The train had only one stop so we were in CSX after only 2 beautiful hours.
- Some students wanted to meet us at the train station, but due to traffic and other factors, it was decided we'd meet at the hostel. The line for regular taxis was very long so we ended up with a non- licensed guy that couldn’t look at the map of the hostel’s location and figure out how to get there.
+ Yakeena was able to tell the driver, via Ruth’s cell phone, where to go.
- I showed the hostel our reservation confirmation and they agreed it was real (after awhile) but it wasn’t in their computer, so we got to sleep in bunk beds, in a dorm the first night.
+ Three students showed up shortly after we did and we went out for a wonderful dinner, then back to the hostel for some pool and foosball.
++ Saturday morning we caught a taxi to the school and chatted with some students on our way to "The Seven Teas" where we met up with about 6 students for refreshment. Then it was off to the park near our former apartment, where a number of other students joined us, the new teacher Andy came by for awhile, as did Youhoo Lee. Dinner was set with Youhoo Lee, as he had other matters to tend to and about 20 of us ended up lunching together at a large round table in an upstairs campus restaurant. Afterwards it was back to some park benches and a 3-4 hours English Corner with many of our former students, and some new ones. It was very nice that we had the business cards Lisa helped us get. At 5:30 it was off to dinner with Youhoo Lee, Lois, Jack and Roam, at the school’s expense as we did discuss some business. About 7:30 we were meeting up with more students and 16 of us headed off for the Saturday evening Orange Island fireworks. Ruth & I finally set foot on Orange Island and it was a delightful conclusion to a delightful day.
+ Today, Sunday, 10/23, we had 3 students to meet with: Yakeena again and Emily (who’s fighting a cold) and Chocolate (who had an exam and birthday party yesterday. They came to the hostel and after showing them around and chatting a bit, we finally caught two taxis (no one would take the five of us). Chocolate & I caught the 1st one and went the direct route, and arrived after the others who went roundabout, via the less congested way. We had a fine lunch at Northwest Dumplings, other than we forgot to take any photos. The girls put us in a taxi for the train station and all was well.
~ It was close to 1:00 p.m. when we got to the South (high speed) station yet the first option we were given was around 6:00 p.m. for over 1,000 RMB. We said no and got an even later time, at a lower rate. We ended up paying the 1,000 and left Changsha around 6:00 p.m., on a train that doesn’t stop at the North station. So, it was the Metro to and then a taxi home, arriving here at about p.m. For the 2nd time this trip, the ticket agent, for whatever reasons, put us in window seats, on opposite sides of the aisle and one row apart. We had no problem going to Changsha, but were hassled a few times by other passengers and staff, for changing seats and for my empty bottle caribined and inside a bottle pouch on my back pack. This was a ~ and not a – because a young man, security type, came over to where we were comfortably seated, and cautiously started conversing with us. After a few minutes he went and got his self study English book and I started working with him on it. Then he let a supervisor type know and we were soon having a nice conversation in and about English. The handsome young man is recently from the military and is trying to learn English on his own. The other man teaches English part time and has signed up to take the English Interpreter exam next month, as are a few of our former students. They say it has a 10% success rate.
So, all in all, a wonderful, adventurous weekend.
