Letter to Students 16 July 2008

Dear Reader

Can you believe that I, the opponent of fast food and American colonial conglomerates like Starbucks, would be sitting in one of those very establishments writing to you?  No, the Chinese experience has not addled my brain, but I spotted a power plug and thought that writing to you was a good way to spend four hours before my long flight begins to New Zealand.  I can't believe that I leave here on Wednesday and can't hug my family till Friday lunchtime.  Han just rang me as I was being handed my boarding pass to say how ridiculous the timing is.  I agree totally, but I have to trust that my travel agent did his best.  I am determined to make the most of each precious hour and not get frustrated by it.  I had also hoped to check my emails, but I seem to be blocked by China Telecom who wants me to sign up to something.  I have taken that as a sign that I am to focus on my letter writing, and leave the emailing till my return on Friday afternoon.  I don't usually sleep on these long flights, but I am determined to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for the family.  They deserve that.  Unfortunately, the last two nights I have not slept well, and this morning I saw a face with beady eyes and bags under them, very similar to the face I saw the morning I left to come here!  Never mind, I am fit and healthy, and looking forward to the next chapter in my life.

As I look out the window of Starbucks, I can see volunteers for the Beijing Olympics, dressed in their blue and yellow sport shirts, emblazoned with the Olympic logo and grey pants  There is an amazing air of buoyancy, of optimism that these games really are " a sharing of countries," as I saw on a billboard as we entered the airport precinct. The “one world, one dream" slogan which I have heard cynically criticised for being insincere in a country whose human right's record is under scrutiny, certainly appears to have real commitment in the people I have met.

I have now passed through customs, and am very impressed with friendliness of the staff  I am sitting waiting for the flight at gate E13, but cannot use the power socket installed conveniently on the floor in front of me as I am missing a part of the plug which is hidden in my luggage. I made sure that all my creams were in my main luggage as I so vividly remember losing my expensive hair product when I flew Ryan Air, and made a ridiculous fuss about it to Han.  I could be a little pathetic, but I have resolved to not be so pathetic in future!  I am having difficulty writing as a little bubble keeps coming up onto the screen telling me the wireless connection can't be found and the message obscures the screen. I am writing blind, and I sometimses think that technology has a mind of its own. Several of my texts to Han went missing this week, and he went into a panic that something had happened to me.  The problem is with our expectation of instant feedback, and not being able to cope when technology lets us down.  We humans so often fear the worst, and so often these fears are groundless.  The modern technology used in screening our bags, or the people using it, didn't pick up Han' s aftershave till the final check, but they kindly let me keep it!

I can't believe how quiet the airport is, and how all the shops closed at 8:30, if not before.  I can remember walking round Singapore in the small hours, and everything was open.  I had a massage and shower early one morning, and then went out to window shop again. It is a 24hour multi cultural mini city!  Despite the early closure of the shops, I again marvelled at the human effort in constructing the architectural masterpiece which is Beijing airport. Travelling on the train to the departure terminal, I worried a little as I watched the driver's eyes close and he was on the verge of falling asleep when instinct woke him to safely stop the train.  I am accutely aware that I can’t use the plug for my computer so conveniently placed on the floor for me to use, and that the battery will soon be flat.  That is a sign that I have to sleep on the plane and not spend the night reminiscing.  The runway looks deserted as I look out the spacious window, but for our plane. This is so different from the line up of planes which landed in succession on our arrival. when we left for Kunming. Hu Chen and I sat in the same terminal, but near the front, and it was there that we had our lunch of delicious noodles from a Japanese restaurant, part of a chain of heartwarming noodles shops.

As I watched the smartly dressed young Chinese men and women, I recalled how I could so easily tell the first Chinese tourists who arrived in Dunedin in the late 1980s by their poorly tailored clothes.  Tonight, I went into a fabulous shop in which I could literally have bought almost everything as I loved every item. The only block to fulfilling this wish is money!  I can't even afford to buy even one item at the moment, but I thought, in my materialistic, self gratifying way, that one day I would go in there and buy something stunningly beautiful and feel a million dollars. I love the saying, "clothes maketh the man." Most of my clothes are bought at Collectibles, a wonderful shop with a vivacious owner, and Fiona sells classic clothes which have been either slightly worn, or people have bought them but have decided to sell them for whatever reason. Impulse buying is a likely cause!

People are now lining up to board the plane, but I prefer to board later and spare the waiting in a queue. I can't understand why there is such a rush to get off a plane, as you always have to wait for your luggage at thee other end.  Arriving at Kunming after the flood was an amazing experience.  We had to bus across the tarmac, which is not unusual, but we then had to walk across a plank as the arrival hall had been flooded!  Many flights had arrived at the same time, and it reminded me of a railway station in India when I was there in the 1980s. I am sure India has progressed in the same way as China has.

I feel I am at school as I am sitting in a row of four seats on the plane, and have made friends with the three students, two Korean and one Chinese who are going to Sydney to either study or work and travel.  They should be coming to Dunedin as I told them!  (Always working!)  I actually had been given an aisle seat at check in, which is good when you want to stretch your legs as I often do, but two girls wanted to sit together, and although reluctant to give up this seat for a middle seat, I realised that it was important for the two girls to travel together.  By being kind, I have actually ended up in a great row of excellent company, and the two who are still awake are fabulous traveling companions. One is a fit, good looking Korean who speaks Chinese and little English, and the other is a Chinese corporate law student going to do postgraduate studies.  Both are nervous about their arrival in Sydney and I have just helped them with their arrival cards which are written in Chinese, but they have to write in English.  I love such interaction. The Korean 25 year old is a real honey and handed me his water as a way of opening up the conversation. He will do well in Australia.  I would love to meet him in two years after he has worked on farms as is his goal. I have offered to keep in touch with them if they have any problems.  Andrew, as he is called in English, has not booked any accommodation, and I recall how I didn't know the hotel in which Hu Chen had booked me, and in fact had no details as to where we would be staying.  If Hu Chen hadn't met me at the airport, I would have been staying in China a very short time!!  I knew I had to write down an address, so flicked through the in-flight magazine and found the review of a few hotels, chose one I liked and wrote down the details. No problem. 

I am now going to settle back, enjoy my dinner with a gin and tonic, a wine, and lots of water before trying to get some much needed sleep.  I look forward to talking to you soon.

Love

Sharron