The End of the Road

Currently, I am in the VILI International Hotel in 广州 (Guangzhou) for my official last night in China. My mother is snoring away even though it is barely past 10 p.m. Meanwhile, my stomach cramps are eating away at my spirit. I could say that guys have it so easy (Oh, look, I just said it!), but I'm sure there are things that bother them that don't bother us girls, too.

Yesterday, my flight out of 上海 (Shanghai) was delayed by three hours due to unsuitable weather conditions on the route. I had already waited in the airport for three and a half hours before the original flight time because I had left the Jiao Tong University Faculty Club earlier than planned since everybody else seemed to be leaving, too. About the delay, I couldn't complain because 1) I had nobody to complain to, and 2) the weather was nobody's fault. So I just sat there... Finally, we took off from 上海虹桥机场 (Shanghai Hongqiao Airport) at 7:28 p.m. For the first half hour or so, witnessing lightning from the sky itself completely astonished me. I felt so close to nature at those moments, and felt as though I were watching a fascinating movie while chewing on my dried squid. Then I fell asleep.

I met my mother at 广州白云机场 (Guangzhou Baiyun Airport) and we lugged my two immensely heavy suitcases from there to the subway to the hotel here. Finally, at 11:33 p.m., we entered the hotel cafe and ate a relatively expensive mini-meal.

Today, for the first time in the past month and a half, I woke up late (if 10:50 is considered late nowadays, especially by summer standards), and my mom and I went to a nearby restaurant for a relatively expensive lunch. Following that, we trekked to 天马广场--quite analogous to Shanghai's 天潼路 (which, in turn, is an enormous version of L.A.'s Chinatown)--to shop. Although the shopping trip was fruitful, I do not want to return there because it was unbelievably crowded everywhere. In addition to that, at 天潼路, I thought it was bad enough that desperate store-owners and shady bootleg-vendors hounded customers. But at today's shopping center, a lady wouldn't let me leave! I was just looking at a shirt, and she pulled me into her small space of a store. And told me to buy it even though I wasn't that interested. Then she told me about the shirt next to it, which I just wanted to look at. She offered me the first shirt for 108元 and claimed her original price was 120元. After some negotiation, I decided I didn't want it for 98元 either. When my mom called to look for me, the lady pulled me back and wouldn't let me leave even though I told her I had lost my mother. WTF?! Finally, when my mother found me, I bought the shirt for 75元, and the store-owner tried to sell other things to me. 不要了，谢谢！(I don't want it, thank you!)

AND THEN. The lady at the store across from that one pulled me in. Can't these people just understand that I'm not going to buy something for myself if I don't like it? And they can't just make me like anything right after I tell them I don't like it.

Most store-owners say to passing potential customers, “来，来，看一下吧。” ("Come and have a look.") This is actually an option, but the two ladies I just described made it a command. They put me under too much pressure!

Dinner at the seafood restaurant across the street from the hotel was downright nasty. I did not enjoy it at all, but at least my mother got to see some of her close friends one last time before our departure. I'm just glad we didn't have to pay for that disappointing meal.

Reflection on Shanghai coming soon. (i.e. RIGHT NOW, in the next post)