Arriving Hangzhou

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.