Happy Saturday!

As I’m writing this, I’m on a high-speed train heading from Nanjing to Suzhou. Though of course, by the time this post goes live, I’ll be in Suzhou.

I’m still in China, though I did come close to cutting the trip short after having somewhat of a breakdown a few nights ago in Nanjing. Other than the first few days during which I got to take naps to get over the jet-lag at my mom’s cousin’s house, it’s been go-go-go since then.

I was in Nanjing for 4 days and it felt like a dog-eat-dog world. It was unlike any place I’ve ever been to. People are constantly in a hurry to god-knows-where, pushing and shoving not caring about who stands and who fall. I’m in constant fear of being hit by a car, bus, electric scooter, or a bicycle because each time I stepped onto the crosswalk, there would be someone trying to turn left or right. Everything is cutting so close that if I’ve been an inch to the left or right, I would’ve been hit.

“Get me out of this city,” I said to my mom last night. I truly hope Suzhou is better than Nanjing.

Don’t get me wrong, the trip hasn’t been a complete lost. I learned a lot of history during the last 4 days, more than the 2 weeks of Chinese history I learned in middle school. We explored museums and historical places like the Ming dynasty palace (or what remains) and the Presidential Palace from the early 20th century when China was a Republic. Since I cannot read Chinese, there were a lot of which I couldn’t understand. Those were the times when I felt like maybe the signage weren’t translated for a reason – that there are something foreign visitors aren’t supposed to know.

Having been in China for a week now, I will still say I am not fond of China and don’t wish to return again. My mom is still wrong about me liking my birth country. I told my mom during my meltdown, I can’t get used to any of this – the people, the noise, the rudeness, how can anybody? Especially, not someone who’s lived in suburbia USA for most of your life. You can be standing in a spot posing for a picture and someone will just walk in front of you like you were invisible.

I had to scream at an old man the other day. My mom was taking a picture of me and as she pressed the shutter button, he stepped into the shot and just stood there. “Come on, mister,” I said, “I’m taking a picture here.” He ignored me and continued to stand there. That was only one of many of these shots.

“Don’t piss them off,” my mom said later, “everyone is a pending volcano. They can blow at any moment and possibly kill you.”

The other thing is people don’t care about hygiene here. They will sneeze or cough in your direction and not bother to cover their mouth. I once walked by a food stall, the man cooking the food sneezed into the food on the griddle and kept cooking. It honestly made me want to vomit. Being someone with an autoimmune disease, I’m in constant fear of getting sick.

At this point, I can only tell myself to keep calm and continue the journey, whatever the journey. Hopefully, that will keep the scary images out of my head.

Anyway, thanks to Natalie for hosting WeekendCoffeeShare and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.