Breakfast at the Shaolin Int'l (my ass) hotel was a big array of chinese pickles and delicious, as chinese hostess told us, breads. We came out to the main hall where a frisson of excitement and flurry of activity by staff prevailed. A number of them were covering the at least decent marble floor with rolls of awful quality red carpet. Assistant manager Yu could hardly contain himself when he told us beaming: premier person of Mozambique is honouring us with visit. I pointed the ripplY everywhere carpet and told him the president would probably fall over that disgusting carpet. He looked at me very happy and said; Oh thank you very much! Of course at that point I gave up. Paid my bill, about 4 clerks had a little conference to charge my visa card - I only had 2 waters..example how the easiest of tasks can be made to look difficult..so inefficient!
We then boarded a private taxi, which assistant manager Yu arranged when I turned down the normal taxi for the 1.5hrs trip. Normal taxis look like cages with a big metal grid between the front and back seats and no aircondition by most of them. The car called was a beaten up small Nissan with probably the cousin of the assistant manager dring it. The driver had no knowledge of english..I had asked Yu to forbid him to smoke - so he stabbed out his cigarette end and kept givng me black looks for the duration of the trip through the rear view mirror. The driving in the roads and highways is so bad it is beyond words can describe. Everybody overtake from all sides, you are customarily on head on collision course with cars from the other direction, avoided the last second, the double uninterrupted line is used as a zig-zag marker, cyclists and motocyclists cut through in front of oncoming traffic, their faces totally indifferent to the wake-up-the-dead honking of oncoming cars, I can go on for a while..
Eventually arrived at Zhengzhou main train station..had 1hr to kill so I succumbed to Theo's begging for a KFC meal which he came to regret much later as it upset his tammy. There were 3 large KFC and 2 McDonalds restaurant around the station and they were all full. Whilst I was washing my hands at the KFC and a guy next to meet was washing his feet at the basin, Theodore observed a man walking up to the counter , shouted something angrily in Cjinese and threw his burger at a female assistant's face. She in turn grabbed a tray to attack him as he charged behind tje counter; intercepted by a manager with a placating drink of Coca Cola which the angry man grabbed and threw on the floor. I came out at the point hey were finishing cleaning the cola. The funny thing was that everybody looked and nobody did anything to restrain the abusive customer, diners, other staff and most importantly the 2 security guards wjo were just watcjoing as if nothing to do with them. As we were leaving the bully was back at the counter shouting again and waving his hands threateningly toa 4-feet tall female assistant..Theo had to physically push me out of the store as my natuaral instinct was to jump on him..
The trainstation was a maze and pretty much all signs and announcements in Chinese. We managed somehow to get on the right platform and train just in time. For the next 4 hrs - read my book and listened to music to avaid the disgusting hawking and spitting noises that both male and female chinese do with alarming frequency. We almost missed getting out at the right station as the train screen was saying Qufudong and we thought this was different to our Qufu. Saved by the nosy parker old lady next to me who every now and then would lean over and take a good look at the page I was reading and tjhen move back. Whilst through her routine she saw the toicket I have taken out and started shouting in chinese that this was our station and harry out +i half the wagonm got up and started pulling our things from overhead shelf and helping us get out fast! Oif it were not for thjem we would up next station 1hr away in Jinan!
Outside the station and at the taxi rank tried to explain to the first driver in the queue - Shaolin Wushu tsiao, to no avail. A flash mob of a dozen cabbies gathered around me having a loud debate about where I was going whilst I was trying to locate the mobile number of translator Nelly, who eventually explained the right address. We left the taxi rank with all the drivers waving and shouting Halo!
Back at school in time for dinner, catching up with other studentys and doing ouur laundry..
No comments:
Post a Comment