Jay K.
[Yay, Ha'erbin/Harbin!!]
Ep.28 Every trip has its own story
I’m back in Korea now. I got back from my winter trip few days ago. Now I am going to write a series of entries about my trip. This time I am not going to write it chronically like the last time. I want to focus more on what I thought during the trip, not what I did.
Every trip has its own story like how I am telling you this story about my trip. Every departure has its own reason. No one leaves without a reason.
[Heading north]
I’m lazy; I don’t like to move. I’m bad at directions; I easily get lost. I’m careless; I tend to lose things. Thus, I shouldn’t like to travel, but I do. Why? I like to take photographs; travelling always gives me wonderful opportunities. I like to explore new places; that’s why I enjoyed my job as a photographer in Berkeley. I also like to think; travelling gives me alone time that I usually cannot have.
The most interesting about travelling is, however, not taking pictures or having alone time; it is encountering unexpected surprises. To be honest, I am a person who likes to plan and gets mad easily if something does not work out as I planned. Travelling always makes you encounter unexpected surprises and change your plan constantly. It makes you more patient and tolerant.
As I told you guys in the previous episode, I was originally going to Ha’erbin with my EAP friends, but they failed to get tickets so I had to leave by myself. On January 9th, I finally finished my final in the morning. I left Beijing that afternoon. I was a bit sad to go by myself, but I made my mind to go on a trip by myself. However, at the train station, I met unanticipated companions!
[Hotpot...ummm yummy]
I knew many people were going to Ha’erbin for the winter break, but I didn’t expect to meet people at the train station. I met Jeremy, who is a friend from the same EAP program, and Zhengchun, a Japanese classmate. They were with three other people, all from my school. They were going to Ha’erbin by the same train that I was going to take. I was just going to spend time with them in the train station, but they asked me to come with them for the whole trip, and I gladly agreed. Why not? At that moment, I didn’t know how it would turn out, but I was very excited to travel with people.
I knew many people were going to Ha’erbin for the winter break, but I didn’t expect to meet people at the train station. I met Jeremy, who is a friend from the same EAP program, and Zhengchun, a Japanese classmate. They were with three other people, all from my school. They were going to Ha’erbin by the same train that I was going to take. I was just going to spend time with them in the train station, but they asked me to come with them for the whole trip, and I gladly agreed. Why not? At that moment, I didn’t know how it would turn out, but I was very excited to travel with people.
[Building the ice city!]
I took a fast train to Ha’erbin, in which it still took 8 hours. I talked to people on the train. I wasn’t even close to Jeremy or Zhengchun, so I tried to get to know them. There were Haihong, a German Chinese guy, Tsubomi, a Japanese Chinese girl and Kiyoung, a Korean girl. They all had interesting backgrounds. And, by an accident, I found out that a crazy drama was going on with this trip. I don’t want to describe it in detail, because it is none of our business and it is not that interesting too.
We finally arrived at Ha’erbin train station. When I was walking out of the train, I expected it to be very cold, but wasn’t as cold as I expected that night. We arrived at our hotel, and I again encountered an unanticipated surprise. The hotel only had rooms with one big single bed that meant I had to sleep with another guy on the same bed. Alas!
We ate a late meal and went to sleep. I ended up sleeping with Zhengchun, a Japanese guy. Although he and I took a class together, I hardly talked to him. He is a very quiet guy, so honestly I didn’t like him much. He is a nice guy, but just too quiet. However, whether I like him or not I had to sleep with him (not sleeping with him in that sense). I never imagined this. Moreover, the hotel’s bathroom was surrounded by glass walls. I don’t what was the purpose of the designer, but you could look through the bathroom when other people are taking their business.
[Five people that I went the Ha'erbin trip with. From the left, Jeremy, Haihong, Zhengchun, Tsubomi, Kiyoung... as you can see, it's so cold!!]
[The "Glass" bathroom]
Around 1am, after a long and tiring day, I went to sleep—with another guy on the same bed. The bed was small for two grownup men. We put our heads on the opposite sides and fall asleep. I was too tired to think about how awkward it was. If you think about it, it is not actually that awkward. I slept with many other guys on the same bed when I was young.
The first night in Ha’erbin was ending like that. The first day was full of surprises. I tagged along with strangers and slept with a stranger. This is why I like travelling. It’s really fun to plan a trip, but what’s even more fun is changing that plan on the spot.
[I love this picture. It was really fun travelling with them!]
Ps. I will upload pictures and stories about the Ice City in the next episode.
to see pictures of the beautiful city, Ha'erbin, please visit:
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