Passengers on the Train

My first trip in 2009 was by train - after 26 trips through the air in 2008. It happened because the loss of my passport. As it turned out, traveling by train opened my eyes in an unexpected way. I would like to travel this way more often in the future.

I took soft sleeper seats for both trips (from Shenzhen to Beijing, 23 hours, then back from Beijing to Guangzhou, 21 hours). It was definitely more comfortable than the hard sleeper seat I once took (1.5 years ago), although the bed wasn't much softer. I didn't sleep too well on both trains, but other than that, it was an enjoyable trip. In particular, I remember the passengers who shared the same cell (4 sleeper seats) with me.

Not all of them shared the entire ride; some took off at the middle, then some got on at the same stop. There was a retired man with his pregnant daughter going back home for the Chinese New Year. There was a young man about my age who went on his one-year job assignment to build a high-speed train rail between Wuhan and Guangzhou (when in operation, the top speed could reach 350 km/hr!). I had some casual chats with them.

When the man and his pregnant daughter got off at Liaocheng, Shandong, two ladies got on board. They were sisters-in-law, and immediately they got into lively chats between them. I was compelled to have a conversation with them, but I could hardly cut in. So I continued to read my book, with a copy of the Good Book lying right next to me. In fact, I deliberately nudged it to make it more visible. I went for a bathroom break, giving them a chance to talk about me - and perhaps the Good Book. (Seriously, that was my thinking! :-)

Upon my return, I soon was able to start a conversation with them. They made a positive comment on my attitude toward matters, and one of them pointed at the Good Book, "I see you have this book. I know you (plural) are good people." I asked if she had a copy herself. Indeed someone gave her a copy before, but she hardly read it. From then on our conversation got deeper and deeper, and they became quite excited. I literally shared with them the Good News, something they heard before but didn't quite understand. They particularly enjoyed listening to how I apply my faith in different areas of my life. I encouraged them to go to their local church and they agreed. We exchanged contact info, and they invited me to visit them in Liaocheng. "How I wish that you could talk to my husband," one of them said, "He is very stubborn, and he needs to hear what you shared today."

On my return trips from Beijing to Guangzhou, an elderly couple also went the distance. I found them not sociable, almost rude when talking to others. Not until we were close to Guangzhou that I finally struck up a conversation with them. It turned out they had lived and worked in Qinghai (Northwest!) for over 20 years, now retired. The wife's health was not good, and they decided to spend the winter in the south. They had quite a bit of luggage since they were going to stay in Guangzhou for a few months. I helped them with their luggage when the train arrived at Guangzhou. We said good-bye. With only a backpack, I walked a lot faster. But at a set of stairs before the exit (no escalator), I waited for them to catch on so that I could help them with their luggage again.

New Year's Day Cards

Our project team had a choice. Either working on Friday, 1/2 or Sunday, 1/4. But I didn't give them that choice. I told everyone rather sternly that since we needed to fix the bugs in a hurry, everyone in principle should come to office on Friday - then enjoy the weekend. They would get the New Year's Day off. So it would be like 1 day off-1 day working-2 days off, instead of 3 days off -1 day working. Some preferred the latter, but, again, I didn't give them that choice.

Then I admitted sheepishly that *I* would take Friday, 1/2, *and* Sunday, 1/4, off because I would be going to Beijing by train. What a manager, huh? :-) (I wouldn't be able to fix any bugs for the team, anyway.)

But I had an idea to appreciate each one of them. On New Year's Eve I went to a bookstore and bought a whole bunch of New Year's Day cards. They were pretty decent, very well designed, but not overly expensive (about RMB 5~6 per). Thinking that the team had about 30 people, I bought 32 cards.

Then on New Year's Day, I sneaked in the office right after lunch. Nobody else was around, of course, and I began to sign the cards. Initially I wanted to keep it simple, with the same sentence for everyone. But as I started writing, the engineers' faces began to show up in front of me, so I ended up writing personalized messages. A couple of examples, "Thanks for being such a gentleman!" "You are a wonderful tester. Thanks for all the bugs - or should we thank the developers?" "You have been an incredible addition to the team. Thanks for everything!"

I had a great time doing it. But soon I found two problems: 1) This was taking longer than I expected, and I had a train to catch in the afternoon. 2) Toward the end, I realized that I bought one card short! How embarrassing! Whom do you want to leave out? Nobody!

Finally I decided to "sacrifice" the girl, a tester, sitting right next to me. (Our office space became so insufficient that the extra space for managers were being utilized.) I wrote her a note to apologize for the mistake, and I promised to make it up. I was sweating. (Update: Upon my return to the office, I gave her a Chinese book as the new year's gift. She was a bit overwhelmed, so I explained that it wasn't even a brand new book. It was a book that had brought me encouragement and comfort in the past, entitled "Stories for the Heart.")

But the drama didn't end yet for the New Year's Day. When I was done with the cards, it was close to 2 o'clock and the train's departure time was 2:40. I rushed downstairs and began to look for a taxi, but there wasn't any. I called a friend who lived nearby but he was out of town. Uh oh. Finally, at about 2:05 a taxi showed up.

It turned out to be my lucky day, as the driver was very experienced, knowing how to get to the train station through short-cuts. In particular, when it got close to the train station, he knew not to follow the taxi line as it would take at least another 10-15 minutes to drop the pessengers off. He pulled his car next to a hotel, and I walked to the station from there - with 5 minutes to spare. Plenty of time! :-)

(So how was the train ride? Stay tuned for the next entry. :-)

51 Flights in A Year

Now to illustrate how crucial it is for me to have a passport - other than to remain legal in a foreign country - this is a summary of the traveling I've done in 2008.

• I flew at least once every month except February
• The busiest traveling months were May (5 trips) and October (4 trips)
• October was the heaviest month as I was on the road 22 out of the 31 days
• My favorite destinations were Shanghai, Beijing, and the NW
• Altogether there were 26 trips through the air
• Most trips were two-leg round-trip, some trips had more than 2 legs with transfers, and a few trips were counted as one-leg due to additional trips prior to the return flight
• Altogether I took 51 flights (a take-off plus a touchdown constituted one flight)

In other words, on average, I had a trip every other week, and a flight per week! But perhaps here is the most telling number of all:

• Out of the 26 trips, 23 were personal (88%)
• Among the other three, 2 were solid business trips (including one to UAE), and 1 was for my company but not for business (it was a "charity trip")

Now you see how much I like to travel through the air. I must say, however, that 2008 was a bit extreme. :-)

Passport!

I wonder if this is the first time that I use my blog to send out an urgent prayer request. I seem to have misplaced my passport! Of course, losing a passport is not the end of the world; nor is it life threatening. It's just a lot of trouble to get a replacement - not to mention also a replacement for the Chinese visa.

What is bothersome is that this would prevent me from traveling in the near future, as I already have plans:

• A New Year's Day trip to Beijing to visit a friend who has been in hospital for over a year.
• A week after that, a trip to Singapore to meet a group of friends to discuss our annual summer camp.
• Two week after that, around the Chinese New Year, a trip to Hong Kong to meet another group of friends for a retreat.

I would love to make these trip, especially the last one (since the first two can be postponed).

100,000

Occasion: Toyota Camry hits 100,000 miles

Date: Sunday, November 30, 2008

Time: Just about 3:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time

Location: Highway I-880, going south (S.F. Bay Area)

City: At border of Fremont & Milpitas, CA

On Radio: FM 102.1 KDFC, Solomon: Overture (Handel)

The Story: I bought the car more than 9 years ago (1999), as it was brand new. When I left California for China 4 years ago, it was already over 90,000 miles (averaging 18,000 miles a year). During the 4 years since, I put on maybe 3,000 miles a year for the home visits (twice a year).

Live photos taken when the car hit the milestone, or "100-thousand-mile stone"?

(I guess I wasn't speeding. :-)

Some before-and-after shots:

Finally, a video showing the exact moment: