January 26th: train to Chengdu
[ posted by mcdeviltoast ]
Day 132
Woke for some breakfast, but no quasi-cinnamon rolls like yesterday. Crappy. We went to a different internet cafe, which smelled like a WC and a teenage gamer boy behind me kept sniffing and slurphing like a five year old with no sense. I gave him a tissue, urged him to use it before I became violent. He did, but the sniffing continued. I gave him the whole pack. Feckin' gamers.
I replied to a couple messages, posted a bulletin on myspace imploring cool people to show us around in Chengdu (none did, the bastards, or else there are no cool people in Chengdu). Ate lunch at Dico's again, got some groceries at the clandestine supermarket (finally found it!) checked out of the hotel and boarded our wheeled home for the next 21 hours.
As soon as we settled into our lower berth, a guy from the middle berth above me sat at the end of my bed reading a newspaper like my bunk was community space or we were bestest buddies. The train was still stationary, so perhaps he was merely sitting there until the train started moving and then he would get in his own damn space. No such luck. The train moved, he didn't. I stretched out, rested my foot against him, trying to solve the problem with both parties' face saved. He didn't budge. I put my bag right near him, moved it into his spot when he got up for another paper. He still sat. This was bullshit. When he got up to give his ticket to the lady, I moved my bag and sweater into position so if he stillinsisted on sitting, he would have to get right next to me or sit on my stuff. Whichever he chose, I would have to get verbally physical. This time he got the hint. Problem solved. Face saved. He's still an asshole.
Mike and I passed the time writing, listening to the music and often eating snacks (as my students say for their hobbies). A Chinese guy named George Kerry aptached himself to us, agreed to be our tour guide for a day in Chengdu, wrote down some must-sees in the city, annoyingly corrected everything about our Chinese, discussed how North Korea now is like China 30 years ago. At one point he disappeared, then returned in a few minutes with a Lonely Planet guidebook he'd borrowed from a British couple onboard.
I jotted down a few points of interest, cuisine pointers, etc, returned the book to them myself. Mark and Tasha were kind of stuffy at first, but the longer I dazzled them with conversation, the more they opened up. I had the opportunity to bash Dubya to both them and George Kerry, thereby doing my part to slowly restore and rebuild the positive image of Americans in the world's eye.
Mike and I drank and played 500 until they shut the lights. We continued straining our eyes and then mutually gave in to dreamville. I utilized my sleep mask, which used in conjunction with the High Art soundtrack, had me sawing logs in record time.
Woke for some breakfast, but no quasi-cinnamon rolls like yesterday. Crappy. We went to a different internet cafe, which smelled like a WC and a teenage gamer boy behind me kept sniffing and slurphing like a five year old with no sense. I gave him a tissue, urged him to use it before I became violent. He did, but the sniffing continued. I gave him the whole pack. Feckin' gamers.
I replied to a couple messages, posted a bulletin on myspace imploring cool people to show us around in Chengdu (none did, the bastards, or else there are no cool people in Chengdu). Ate lunch at Dico's again, got some groceries at the clandestine supermarket (finally found it!) checked out of the hotel and boarded our wheeled home for the next 21 hours.
As soon as we settled into our lower berth, a guy from the middle berth above me sat at the end of my bed reading a newspaper like my bunk was community space or we were bestest buddies. The train was still stationary, so perhaps he was merely sitting there until the train started moving and then he would get in his own damn space. No such luck. The train moved, he didn't. I stretched out, rested my foot against him, trying to solve the problem with both parties' face saved. He didn't budge. I put my bag right near him, moved it into his spot when he got up for another paper. He still sat. This was bullshit. When he got up to give his ticket to the lady, I moved my bag and sweater into position so if he stillinsisted on sitting, he would have to get right next to me or sit on my stuff. Whichever he chose, I would have to get verbally physical. This time he got the hint. Problem solved. Face saved. He's still an asshole.
Mike and I passed the time writing, listening to the music and often eating snacks (as my students say for their hobbies). A Chinese guy named George Kerry aptached himself to us, agreed to be our tour guide for a day in Chengdu, wrote down some must-sees in the city, annoyingly corrected everything about our Chinese, discussed how North Korea now is like China 30 years ago. At one point he disappeared, then returned in a few minutes with a Lonely Planet guidebook he'd borrowed from a British couple onboard.
I jotted down a few points of interest, cuisine pointers, etc, returned the book to them myself. Mark and Tasha were kind of stuffy at first, but the longer I dazzled them with conversation, the more they opened up. I had the opportunity to bash Dubya to both them and George Kerry, thereby doing my part to slowly restore and rebuild the positive image of Americans in the world's eye.
Mike and I drank and played 500 until they shut the lights. We continued straining our eyes and then mutually gave in to dreamville. I utilized my sleep mask, which used in conjunction with the High Art soundtrack, had me sawing logs in record time.
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[ posted by mcdeviltoast @ 1/26/2005 04:20:00 AM ]
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The dumbtronica act Montana & McDeviltoast, along with their friends, keep each other updated on their activities. Much fun having by all, and Pockys fear for their lives!