Chinese SAGAS – December 2008 – Back from Iceland
I had got my VISA from the Chinese embassy in Iceland and now I was on my way to London where I enjoyed a week. I needed to see my doctor and just breathe in the city.
On the 16th of December I arrived in China.
My interior designer and friend, Mr. Chen, had intended to pick me up at the airport but then he was not in town on the 18th and sent a friend.
When I arrived at the airport in Fuzhou there was no suitcase. The plain from London to Hong Kong was late; the plain from Hong Kong to Fuzhou was also late because they waited for me.
My poor suitcase did not make it when I was rushed from a delayed plane from London.
When I landed in Hong Kong the staff waited for me and we ran through the airport to my Fuzhou plane, which had waited for the foreigner, just to make sure she would get home. There was no time to find my suitcase.
Now I was at Fuzhou airport, looking for someone, just someone who could tell me what to do and how to save my suitcase.
My Chinese was not that good and it was difficult to find someone who understood the foreigner and what she was trying to explain in Chinese. Eventually though a young man came who spoke a bit English, not much but he managed to explain to the foreigner that the suitcase would come tomorrow.
I was in China and tomorrow is different, not the same meaning as in some other countries. Tomorrow in China means in the future. My poor suitcase would perhaps get lost and never find her way home and there were some important things in it that I needed to use immediately.
I had a huge problem on my hands.
Although I decided to take it as at hand, no despair. I gave my new friend, the one who was talking to me at the airport and knew some English, my phone number and told him as well that it would be totally useless to call me in Chinese. I would not understand a word. He looked at me, smiled and said “No Chinese”!
Here in China everyone wants to be your friend. Friend does not mean friend, it means someone. It was confusing at first but this time I had lived in the country for a while and knew we were not Friends friends, we had just spoken to each other for a very short while at the airport. Confusing?
Then I asked if I needed to come to the airport to pick up my dear suitcase?
I could easily picture myself losing my way to the airport and traveling maybe for days just to find my way back home if I ever made it in the first place to the airport.
I had already made it 3 times to the airport but not always the same road and it was not always the same road that confused me. Why can we not use the same road to go back and forth? Why does it have to be so complicated? Did the authorities not know how confusing this was for me? Or maybe they did not care? What do I know!
Anyway, I managed to find Mr, Chen’s friend and we made it to the car which was indeed my car. I was happy, this was convenient. I would not have to carry myself from one car to another and perhaps lose my way while changing.
Now we needed to get from the airport to my home, which should be easy, my driver was Chinese.
The friend had managed to get to the airport and now he thought it was the same way back!
It’s not just me!
We needed to get to MR Chens office because my house keys where there and of course it would be more convenient when I got home to have the keys to the front door.
We left the airport at half past seven. We drove back and forth. I was no help. I had no idea how to get to Fuzhou. We drove back and forth, back and forth. I think we had been around the whole city but eventually we arrived at the office and the girl had left. It was half past nine. The work day ended at 7.
My luck is that the girl who works at the office is in fact Mr, Chen’s wife. They live close by, half an hour’s drive from my home. My friend, the new one, Mr, Chen’s friend, left me at the office.
He asked if I could find my way back.
I told him no problem!
So he believed me and trusted I could find my way home from the office, which of course at this time was a piece of cake.
I stopped at Jing San on my way back to Min Hou and got the keys. Not a problem. I knew how to drive from Jing San! Now I was on my way home, just few minutes and I would be at the gate.
Hulda Björnsdóttir
Ps. When I got home a surprise was waiting for me. That is the next chapter.
My thoughts shared with you 