October Break and Homesickness

I wrote, and then re-wrote (because Tumblr ate the first one) two beautiful posts about being homesick today. I cannot bring myself to do it a third time. Suffice to say that I miss the Northeast of America and I miss my Mother and my Father and my sisters something awful these days. I love it here, don't get me wrong, but I really love Autumn in New Jersey and New York. They tell me that the leaves will change here, and they tell me it will happen soon, but I can't believe that it will be the same, because it won't be.

Next week is a National Holiday in China, so the CIEE-ers have 10 days off to travel around China. I'm going to Urumqi with Riane and Kyle by train and coming back by plane. We aren't leaving until tuesday, because we absolutely refused to take the 45 hour journey on anything less than a hard sleeping berth and everything before tuesday only had seats. We ended up getting soft sleepers (ritzy!), but there's a guy named Morgan who's going to Urumqi on a hard seat. Allow me to explain why this is a big deal.

On Chinese trains, there are four classes of ticket.

First class is the Soft Sleeper. Soft sleepers are, like I said, kind of ritzy. I've never been on a soft sleeper before, but it was only moderately more expensive than a hard sleeper and, for 45 hours on one train, I'd like to be as comfortable as I can be (without spending a ridiculous amount of money). There are 4 bunks in a Soft Sleeper car, so Riane, Kyle and I will be making a new friend. There's also a closable door (which I'm probably going to want to keep open - Even more new friends!), a table, and a trash can. According to the link above, I might also be getting slippers, a duvet and a TV, which the three of us absolutely did not know about before buying our tickets. This ride is sounding easier and easier.

Second Class is a Hard Sleeper. I took a Hard Sleeper from Beijing to Lanzhou, an 18-20ish hour ride. That wasn't bad. I could probably do the 45 hours to Urumqi on a Hard Sleeper if the price was an issue. (I'll probably regret not taking a Hard Sleeper because the Soft Sleeper will make me feel cushy and privileged and American when I really want to feel crunchy and alone and worldly, but I am a cushy privileged American, so that settled that.) Hard Sleepers come in cabins of 6, with 3 bunks on each side. I slept on the top bunk last time which, according to Wikipedia, has the least room. The bruises on my forehead after the ride can be my testament to that fact. There is absolutely nothing at all wrong with a Hard Sleeper. It's mostly comfortable, it's never too expensive, and you get to hang out with lots of Chinese people. Awesome.

Third Class is a Soft Seat. I don't know much about Soft Seats, but they look sort of like normal airline seats on a transnational flight. Fine for like 12ish hours, I'd probably not suggest doing a seat for more than 15 hours.

Fourth Class is a Hard Seat. This is what Morgan is doing to Urumqi. Again, they're certainly fine for shorter trips, but anything over 8ish hours would be taxing to say the least. Morgan is doing 45 hours. According to Wikipedia:

A journey in a hard seat carriage can be a great chance for westerners to experience Chinese society and customs and interact with many of its peculiarities. However longer trips could prove quite challenging as overcrowding and poor hygienic conditions tend to deteriorate dramatically as the trip progresses. Even longer trips may be overtaxing for a foreign tourist mainly due to the impossibility of sleeping (unless one lies on the floor or in the passageways, as the locals do) and the levels of odor, smell and filth becoming critically intolerable.

I'm excited for the trip to Urumqi, and I'll be writing posts every day I'm traveling. They might not get posted every day, but I'll write them and I'll take lots and lots of pictures.