Make You a Celebrity Overnight

Was it Justin Timberlake who had these lyrics in his song? Whether it was J.T. or not, that’s kind of what it has felt like the last couple of days. After arriving in Beijing feeling nasty after a solid day of traveling and no shower or teeth brushing (forgot the toothbrush in the bag), I found out that my bags didn’t make it. They were still in L.A. To make a long story short, my mom did a good job hassling the people at Delta, and I got my bags the next morning.

Anyway, in Beijing , people rarely take a second look at me because of all the foreigners touring these days (not necessarily true if I’m speaking Chinese). Once I got on the train bound for Benxi , this all changed. (the Beijing train station is pictured) As soon as I was aboard, one of the workers pointed at me and called me over, where a female worker was stationed. I thought I had done something wrong, but they simply wanted to ask me questions and find out all about my background.

The rest of the train ride (which left at noon and arrived at 6:30 the next morning) was like that. While waiting for my food I talked with the cook and spent three or more hours talking after dinner with two different groups of people, who all wanted to know about me and America . I would go to the bathroom and when I returned they would make sure there was a chair clear for me in the middle, and all eyes would be on me. Different people would chime in at different times. We talked about everything from the size of dorm rooms at American colleges versus China’s to the Iraq war. They even turned the lights out on us (10pm), but we were having a pretty good time getting to know each other so we kept talking—especially a couple college students my age. The next morning I even woke up at 5:30—admittedly mostly because I couldn’t sleep—and talked with people until my stop. You can see in the picture a few of the guys who I was talking with, with a few more out of the picture. One guy had teeth so bad I could only concentrate on them, and had no idea what he was talking about.

Wherever I went, people would carry at least one of my two bags for me. When we stopped at Benxi, a girl (I say that somewhat laughingly, because I later found out she was 31, after thinking she was about 19) helped me buy a long-distance bus ticket to Huanren and buy a cell phone. She took me all around the city, paying for my transportation, even treating me to breakfast. She’s certainly not someone who can afford to do this, but it’s just in her nature to be that welcoming.

When I finally got to Huanren (after a bus ride through the country...see the rice paddies), it really got intense. I knew where nothing was…I just had my cell phone with the number of my friend. First I needed to eat and check email, though. So here I am, this 6 foot tall white guy with two enormous suitcases trudging down the street of a town that might see a foreigner once every few years. I mean, this place is WAY off the beaten path. I could just feel about 300 sets of eyes on me everywhere I went. It was almost as if people stopped what they were doing. When I finally found a restaurant, I became the entertainment of the customers (and workers too).

After finishing there and taking care of business at the internet bar, I gave my friend a call, to no result. I started looking for the address, and eventually asked some people at an intersection if they knew the address. No one really knew, but they all started asking others around them if they knew. By the time they figured it out, there were 10-15 people surrounding me, some asking questions, others looking with curiosity.

In the end, I got into my hotel, which you can see is pretty nice. It’s got AC. The only problems are that the internet doesn’t work and there is no mattress. What you see in the picture is just a box spring. Sleeping on that last night was a lot like sleeping on the floor. On the bright side, I got up at 6:30, a solid two hours early. Good times.