The Worst.

Maybe I've been purposely been lagging in my blog updates because I'm truly struggling to write about negative experiences in an upbeat manner. I really try to be optimistic when considering all the bizarre occurrences and encounters that have happened while we've been in China. I'm going to tell you about our trip back home from Kunming to Shanghai. I'm pretty sure Josh will also vouch for the fact that it was THE WORST. I'm not one to throw around "the worst" like so many teeny boppers do either. (Trust me kids, Algebra is not the worst. A FORTY hour STANDING ROOM ONLY train ride is.) The reason that the train was so packed was because Spring Festival/Chinese New Year is the one time of year that everyone in the country travels to be with their families. What the heck were we thinking?!

Now, I will proceed to quote my classy leather bound journal in which I wrote in midst of this journey.

2/11/13: When we arrived at the train station, I was super disappointed to find out that the only tickets available on the forty hour train ride to Shanghai were standing room only. 40 HOURS!! I swallowed my pride...spoiledness...entitlement and gave myself a pep talk. First we got on with our huge backpacks and hand luggage, parking right near the door where the train cars connect. Okay, this won't be so bad, I thought. We were the only ones standing. I was imagining a packed rush hour subway car in Shanghai. Shortly after we took off, a conductor motioned for us to go into the car to have a seat. There were plenty to choose from! This wasn't going to be that bad at all. An hour or two in, we had to give up our seats, no worries though, it wasn't until a couple more hours that the train got packed. We lost our seats, of course, to the newcomers. We had to push our way to the train car joint again. The bathroom was in front of us, someone's luggage behind us, to the left the cold air and cigarette smoke came from the door's opening, and to the right was the trash can. I was leaning against the nastiest trash can where people were throwing all sorts of disgusting things, and occasionally hawked up loogies- spitting literal inches from my head. 

The conductor was nice enough to give us stools to sit on (for a child, not even one foot tall) So, there we squatted from about 10:30 pm to 8:00 am. Of course it is ridiculous to think that I slept for most of that. I absolutely did not. My rage inside just kept rising as I watched what was going on around me. People were spitting their sunflower seed shells all over the floor. The same floor where I saw a couple of people actually sleeping under the seats. And of course, the people were sleeping under the seats because several inconsiderate jerks were hogging rows of 3 seats to lie down! People were just spitting on the floor. At one point, a woman carried her pants-less child to the bathroom. Coming out, his dripping butt was right in my face. Another man passed up on waiting to take his kid to the bathroom. He went in between the cars (smokers' section) and pulled his kids pants down to pee right on the floor. He just walked away of course. Another man hit me hard right in the head with his luggage and didn't even acknowledge it. That only added to my already escalating headache.

 I did manage to get about 3 -20 minute chunks of sleep. I actually felt good when I slept, I even dreamed a little. It wasn't the disappointment of waking up from a good dream that got me. It was actually like the exact opposite of waking up from a nightmare. I woke up to the nightmare. I admit, soon after we were moved to the stools in the corridor, I had a meltdown. I was cursing everything about China (wouldn't you?) My level of fury was insane. All I kept thinking about was that we had to spend the equivalent of a work week hunched over next to the trash and toilet. One of the worst experiences of my life, a total buzz kill after being in such amazing locations the days prior.

2/12/13: Still on the train. We are halfway done. TWENTY HOURS LEFT. I can't believe we made this this long. Around 8 (I think) the seat hogs sat up and we got seats. Luckily, we haven't had to give them up yet. If we can last through the next night (tonight) we'll be golden. Hoping and praying....

We got the boot again! 

Back to standing for a few hours. Then a miracle happened. We were able to buy sleeper bunks. A MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I can't even describe the feeling I had when we made it to the sleeper car. Of course that had to be dramatic too. A conductor knew we wanted them, and that we would pay ( I think they were only like 40 bucks each). Finally bunks became available. At the beginning of our second night she mimed "sleeping" and with eager eyes, Josh and I were nodding "yes!" like maniacs. So, we had to climb over not just one car of people sleeping all over the floor, try 10. It was pretty comical actually. We were backpacking through this horror with the promise of paradise. And paradise it was! When we finally arrived at Car 2 (we were in Car 13) all the lights were off, and everyone was tucked away in their bunks. We hastily threw our bags on the overhead rack and crawled into our priceless beds. I couldn't even sleep I was just overcome with gratitude and happiness.

The worst really makes you appreciate the best, doesn't it?