Chengdu Week 10 - 15 hour train ride to Xian

Hard Sleepers

Nov. 5, 2014

    Test went well, almost to well. I am worried I am going to get it back and find out that I actually didn’t understand anything. But nothing I can do now. After the test it was a rather odd day, simply because we would be leaving for Xian at 7 pm and boarding a train by 9:30. I went with JD for lunch, we try to eat together at least once a month. We generally don’t hang out together but we actually are very similar people. Also it’s just good to keep good relations with everyone in our group. Then I was off to Trust Mart (Wal-mart) to get some snacks for the journey. Food is general expensive on long transportation, so instead I brought my food for much cheaper and just packed it. Then I went home and got all my clothes into my luggage and I was ready to go. Dinner was a quick pit stop to a sandwich shop, then an hour of wandering around the dorms waiting for something happen.
    We took a quick ride to the train station and security was interesting. To even get in the train station they needed to see our passports. It’s not that we are restricted in our travel, but instead they just want to know where we are in China. Getting on the train wasn’t too bad as far as Chinese lines go. Yes, there was pushing, but apparently assigned seating keeps people much calmer. Our hard sleeper seats are these small little bunks. Six people in each area, I was with Cassidy, Eric, Rana, and Myself. The upper most bunks were purchased by Chinese people. Once the train started it was really too dark to look outside. Instead I got to talk with Chinese people. I spent two hours talking to a man named 李长昕 Li ChangXin. He was telling me stories in Chinese. I learned a lot of new vocabulary and got to practice my listening. I spoke as well, so overall a good day to be learning Chinese. All the people on the car kept complimenting me on my Chinese, but it was because I have only been studying Chinese for 5 months. Apparently I sound very good, but my Chinese isn’t that great. I manage to crawl into bed around 1 am but sleep I knew would be difficult. The train did not have a consistent rhythm. Oh well we’ll see how this goes.