After a peaceful nights rest on the rolling ocean, I awoke and went on deck to view for the first time the vast, watery expanse. Though I knew the distance between China and Korea was great, it was a little unsettling to see nothing but water, stretching far to the horizon in every direction. The morning was a bit overcast and a haze in the air turned into a light fog as the day advanced and made our lone presence feel surreal.
Life aboard the ferry was somewhat mundane. With so many of us crowded into the econmy bunks and everyone stashig their luggage, bags, bulky boxes, and other miscellaneous items in every available corner of the room, I felt something akin to the faceless lower class passengers stowed away in the bottom decks of the Titanic. Though people were happy, chatty, and friendly, it almost would have been fitting if someone had started playing a sad, hardship song on a harmonica or banjo.
For breakfast I had kimbop and some Pringles, both of which I'd brought with me. Food was available, I believe, from the restaurant on board the ferry but I didn't want the hassle of communicating my order as as I wasn't very hungry anyway, it felt good to be frugal.
I passed the day sleeping watching the horizon on deck, writing a letter home, and reading a two-day old copy of the International Herald Tribune I'd brought with me. Occasionally we would pass a large freighter in the distance, otherwise we were alone. The novelty of taking the ferry began to wear thin, much like the way the thrill of taking a long bus ride or airplane flight starts to become dull as you grow impatient to arrive at your destination.
At length we finally did arrive, on time, at 7:00 PM. For an hour before we reached port, we passed dozens of various hulking frieghters, anchored at sea and dormant, I imagine, so as not to crowd the available docking spaces in Tianjin. An hour passed before we were allowed to disembark but after we did, and after a short bus ride to the customs terminal, I officially entered the country.
What a strange but unremarkable experience to finally walk the soil of a land with such a grand history and such a tempestuous present. Korea has been such a unique and enjoyable experience but the sheer size and depth was, for me, quite a leap in magnitude. On the other hand, the sights and sounds and smells were rather ordinary. Perhaps many people have a similar reaction the first time they set foot in a place that for them has figured so prominently in their own educational upbringing.
If I was eyed with suspicion checking through customs, it didn't register. It only took a few minutes. I exited the terminal and found Brian. We took a very long ride in a cramped, dirty red taxi into Tianjin. We bought tickets at the train terminal and as the next train wasn't scheduled to leave for an hour we walked down a side street to find some food. We settled on a small restaurant and ordered potstickers, a sort of dumpling - quite delicious.
The trip to Beijing took 90 minutes on a cramped, dirty train. Fortunately the weather was pleasant and some of the windows were open which allowed a strong breeze to flow through our car.
We arrived in Beijing around 10:45 PM. A short jaunt on the subway and another taxi brought us to the campus of the university where Brian taught for 12 months nearly four years ago. (It's official name is The University of Science and Technology Beijing.) It was quite late but we had hopes of finding a room in the foreign student's dorm. Unfortunately we were told no rooms were available so we had to settle on a room in the nearby convention center hotel at about three times the cost. (70 yuan or $8.75 for a dorm room versus 200 yuan or $25 for the hotel! Yuan is pronounced quickly and sounds like U.N.) But we were exhausted and couldn't afford to be picky so we paid for our room and finally went to sleep around midnight.
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