March 2019
I arrived in Hangzhou a few weeks ago from a long stint in Hong Kong trying to get my visa. I took the super train from HK which wasn’t the best idea but I did get some decent footage for my channel. The seats were comfortable and nice but I paid a bit more then I wanted to for the last minute ticket. This wasn’t the first time I got stuck in a country waiting for my visa. Way back in 2011 I got stuck in Cambodia waiting for my visa, if you travel or are an expat for any extended period of time this will happen to you.
I got to the train station and the cold air hit my skin. I was used to the warm HK weather, I reached in my suit case for may jacket and put it on. I was greeted by some folks from school and they were friendly. I wanted to sleep but they wanted to take me to dinner, which was kind so they took me to a restaurant. My school is out in the suburbs so there isn’t much out here. They took me to a family run restaurant which was actually pretty good. Chinese food in the US is so different then actual Chinese food in China. They talked and I tried not to look tired but I was fading as it was late and my train ride was long. Afterwards they checked me into a decent hotel. I found my room and immediately fell asleep.
The next day I wok up to the sun light coming in to the room . I looked outside to a typical Chinese suburb. It was not so bad, I had seen a lot worse in my travels. It lacked larger shopping malls and chain stores like Starbucks but I could deal with it.
The next day they took me to find an apartment. The places were really nice on the outside and inside. The apartment complex had a nice little park in the middle and the sidewalks were clean. It was pretty nice actually. They showed me a few places and I chose the bigger place. It had a nice little kitchen area with a sink, new fridge and a hot plate for a stove top. I moved in right away and it didn’t take long to get used to the place. I had been homeless for the past few months bouncing around hostels in Beijing, then heading back home to Minneapolis, then to a hostel in Hong Kong. I was tired of moving around. It wears on the soul but at the same time its fun to travel.
