If there is one thing I have learned throughout my travels, it is always be prepared for the worst. Considering the trip I just completed to make my way across the world I would say it is a piece of advice that is very valuable indeed, as just about everything that could have possibly gone wrong seemed to do so.
When it comes to travelling by air, I honestly have very low expectations. This is probably due to the fact that I have been travelling with AirCanada numerous times a year since I was 17 and their gross incompetance has shown through practically every time I've flown with them. My journey here was a joint effort by United Airlines and Southern China Airlines, and although my flights were all fairly comfortable especially considering their length, the end result was the same. But before I skip ahead to the end of the story, perhaps I should start at the beginning.
My first flight had me landing at Newark International Airport in New York City to catch my connecting flight to Beijing. New York City has always been at the top of my list of places I have to visit before I die, so to say I was excited to even be in the airport would be an understatement. I may as well have glued my forehead to the window I was so awestruck by the view, its a good thing the flight was about half empty and there was really no one around be to see how much of a dork I was being. But the fun stopped there, because I quickly found out the moment I stepped in the airport that everyone who works there is an asshole. Okay, perhaps that is going to far, but everyone I encountered most assurdedly was. Folks, I may have just caught a bad shift of workers, but if that is the way it is all the time then don't bother trying to aks anyone a question in Newark. Seriously, every person I attempted to ask for directions or any other kind of help either rudely ushered me along without answering, or talked to me like I was a complete idiot. Unfortunately for me, I had to keep asking because my flight boarded approximately ten minutes after I landed so I didn't have much of a choice but to get help making it there. Also, side note since this is my first time travelling through the US, I seriously had to take off my shoes? Seriously? Like I'm going to hide something in there that you won't find with your giant people scanner. Running through the airport to make your flight while silmultaneously trying to put your shoes back on is not my idea of a good time. But anyway, I digress.
With the help of a very nice American tourist (no, not even an employee) I managed to board my flight to Beijing with time to spare. It was unfortunate I did not manage to contact anyone via Facebook or email before I boarded, but c'est la vie. On the flight, I was seated next to a very sweet middle aged Chinese couple. Well... at least I think they were very sweet. The kept speaking to me in Mandarin and considering my skills in that language go no further than hello, goodbye, and thank you, they could have been telling me I looked like a drowned sewer rat for all I know. But they were smiling as they spoke, so I took it to be a good sign and went with it. The flight was excrutiatingly long (fourteen hours) but it really was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The airline had a large selection of television programs and films so I kept myself entertained for the majority of the flight. The highlight of my flight was easily the movie Bridesmaids. As embarrassed as I was to be full-on guffawing at a movie on a plane full of stranger, the movie was so freakin' funny it didn't matter to me. Seriously if you haven't seen it, do it now. The food was subpar though, and despite the fact that I requested a vegetarian meal I did not get one. Luckily I could eat around or pick out most of the meat, so I did not go hungry.
When I landed in Beijing, my day just continued to get worse. Weirdly enough, I ended up wishing to be back on the plane again I was so frustrated. As we de-planed, the crew informed us that there would be an international concierge greeting the plane that would help us make connecting flights. I approached said concierge with questions only to be told "transfer desk," repeatedly rather than actually answered. So much for speaking english. I then headed to the transfer desk where I was told I needed to go to terminal 2 to catch my flight. I asked for directions and all they did was point down a very long hallway, which you will soon understand was not very helpful at all. I made my way down to the customs and security clearance area and got in line at the International Connections port, only to be told I needed to go around through the other side of the terminal to print my boarding pass, since they were unable to print it for me in St. Johns. After rounding the airport terminal and encountering several unhelpful employees who claimed they spoke english but did not, I was told I needed to back to the customs and security clearnace area. More than a little frustrated, I approached an Australian woman and asked for her help. She really tried her best to help me and was very kind, but I ended up even more lost with her directions. Finally, I figured out that I needed to clear security to get out to the main area of the airport to get to the elusive terminal 2. I made it out through, and after like twenty minutes of increasingly frustrating attempts at finding out how to get to terminal 2, I finally found a woman who spoke enough english to tell me that terminal two was 40 minutes away by bus.
Awesome.
Panicked and frantic since I only had approximately one hour before my flight was supposed to leave, I hopped on the shuttle train to get to the area where I could get a bus. I still had no freakin' clue where I was going, and I must have looked it because I was appraoched by an english-speaking "red shirt" offering me assistance. These "red shirts" help passengers with their baggage for a small fee, and this young man told me he could get me to my flight on time, but that we would have to hurry. After grossly overpaying for his service (I only had American money, but it was better than having to pay for another flight) my day became chase the little Chinese man through the Beijing airport. This guy was not kidding about us needing to hurry, I actually had to jog to keep up with him. And seriously, after spending almost twenty hours in the air and already feeling tired and dirty, running through a hot sticky airport is an extremely unpleasant experience. The plus side of the story was that I actually got to step foot in Beijing, as the terminal was a fairly long bus journey away. Although I didn't see alot, it was still a pretty cool experience.
So with the helped of my "red-shirt" friend, I managed to make it through in time to be the very last person to board my flight just before it took off. Again, I took the positive with the terrible and said: "hey at least I'll be at Vietnam in three hours." But then, of course, I arrived in Vietnam only to be informed that my luggage was lost. A perfect end to a perfect journey. I will say though that I was very lucky to be attended to by a lady who spoke excellent english, and she assured me that my luggage was not "lost," only delayed, and that I should get it within the next couple of days. Well, it's been a full day now and I have still heard nothing, but I am hopeful that I will be getting it sometime tomorrow.
When I finally got out of the airport (almost two hours after my flight had landed) I met my escort, as well as another volunteer who was being picked up at the same time, in the terminal. My fellow traveller, an American, and I hit it off pretty quickly during our journey to our accomodations as we both sat staring slack jawed at the insanity that the Vietnamese call driving. Upon arrival to our volunteer house, I quickly learned that I was currently the only Canadian volunteer (represent). My housemates range across several nationalities, with Americans and Brits leading the charge with three volunteers a piece. The accomodation is very basic to say the least, and is without a doubt going to take some getting used to. It is certainly not a hotel by any stretch of the imagination, I can assure you of that.
The heat here is positively overwhelming. We have no air conditioning, of course, so there are at least ten fans going in the house at any given time to keep us from sweltering. It is also extremely humid, which brings me to my next point... you should see my freakin' hair. The fact that I lost my luggage and therefore did not have product to put in it after I showered did not help, but it is seriously twice its normal size. Oddly enough, I have got numerous compliments on it despite its slightly more controlled "Monica in Barbados" appearance. For my own sake though, I really hope my luggage arrives very soon.
So that was my first day in Vietnam in a nutshell. Today we did our first day of orientation and a quick tour of the area that we're living in. The area is very safe, and authentically Vietnamese as it is not really a toursity area. Any time we ventured out, we did not see another foreigner anywhere, and pretty much everyone stared at us as we walked by. Some of the younger groups even waved at us! It's a little bit odd to be given so much attention, but they are only looking with interest, not malice.
The food is... um... interesting? Its a completely different spice palate here, so it is definitely going to take some getting used to. Unfortunately, it is considered rude to leave food on your plate here, so if you try something you have to finish it. I learned that the hard way, and I have already woofed down a myriad of strange tasting dishes while silmultaneously trying not to vomit. The Vietnamese seem very big on their meat, so being a vegetarian has not proved overly easy so far. Hopefully once I get a little more used to it I will be alright. Also, thanks to Marie who gave me chopsticks as a gift before I left, even if they were a joke gift practicing with them helped keep me from looking like a complete idiot during meals. I'm not even close to the worst one at using them!
The traffic here deserves a blog entry all to itself with accompaning pictures, so I hope to post about that in the next few days.
As part of our orientation today I, along with the five other volunteers that started today, had a Vietnamese language lesson with two local students. To say it was entertaining would be an understatement. Vietnamese is a very difficult language, so we all had a good laugh attempting to navigate the complicated pronunciations and tones. Our teachers were very sweet and spoke english very well, and didn't balk at us as we completely butchered their language. Sure they laughed, but we definitely laughed at ourselves more so it was all good. After all of this, the jet lag hit us all pretty hard so we crashed for a nap fairly early, which brings me to the present time. Alot of information for a first blog, eh? And people were worried I wouldn't post at all.
It is approximately midnight here now, which I guess means it's about 2:30 at home. The time difference thing is certainly odd, especially when I see people posting about being out at a bar when I'm getting up in the morning. The jet lag is also fairly difficult to overcome for the moment, but I'm hoping a good nights sleep tonight will do the trick.
I suppose that is it for my first blog entry. I realize it is a little stilted, but I had so much to fit in I just wanted to get it all down. Tomorrow we are going to the Museum of Etymology before being brought to our placements for the first time. Hopefully I will post again sometime tomorrow with all of the happenings then, as well as my thoughts about the traffic.
Until then, enjoy your evening. I'm going to bed.
Sarah
(This is not edited or spellchecked yet, so do not judge me for my mistakes.)
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