So we had a lovely, pleasant week together in Luke's hometown. We did some sightseeing, some strolling, some shopping (I am now the proud owner of shoes that look like they'd be worn by an Asian porn star during the day), lots of riding on buses, and a ton of eating. We were going to take the train back to Guangzhou, because we had flown to Lanzhou, but for some reason we couldn't get tickets for the day I had originally thought we would leave so I was stressing about having time to tie up my loose ends in Zhuhai. But I knew Luke would help me pack, and I had finished my grades one morning at Luke's house, so Sunday night we headed to the train station for our 36-hour journey.
That wasn't a typo. Thirty-six hours on a train. That's what I thought, too, but then a funny thing happened during that train ride - I had a blast. With Mama Li's motherly help, we had stocked up on instant noodle bowls, nuts, drinks, chocolate bars, popcorn, etc. and I had about 70 little hearts still to crochet for my students. I was also pretty sleep deprived at this point, and judging by how well I'd slept on previous trains, I knew I'd appreciate the two nights on the bottom bunk. So we showered at Luke's house, put on pajamas, had a teary goodbye with Mom, and prepared to get dirty. The bottom bunks are enjoyable, I find, because you can use the little table by the window, and put your stuff under the bed, and hop over to your partner's bunk, and cuddle a little, and snack all day, and lie around with nothing to do. The first night I slept fabulously, as expected. In the morning we woke up and lounged around, and I went back to sleep for a few hours sometime in the middle of the day. I never really knew what time it was, you know. At some point a family got on with a 5-year-old spoiled brat-type boy, whom Luke entertained with magic tricks and boy play. Miraculously, no crowd of wide-eyed Chinese people gathered around us, so I was able to crochet and stare out the window in peace. The second night, Luke and I stayed up after the lights went out, drinking beer and making out. The next morning we woke up at 7 or 8, when folks start to get chatty, finished our food, washed up, and prepared to brave the Guangzhou humidity. Actually I think I could have stayed on that train for another day. Dirty, but happy!
When we got back to campus, we had a little disturbing run-in with Cheikh, who was waiting for me at the bus stop. That was traumatizing. But then I set to work packing ten months of life into three suitcases, wading through the monsoon-like weather, returning the piano, saying goodbye to a million people, having a goodbye party with my freshman students, returning keys and getting deposit money, and making Guangzhou hotel reservations, which all needed to be accomplished in 48 hours. This was stressful, to say the least. But Luke was a good helper. I ended up not doing things I thought I would have done at the end. I didn't take pictures of things I saw every day. I didn't go to the teaching building and take mental pictures of the classrooms I taught in. I didn't go say goodbye to the ladies in the bakery and eat a final egg tart. I didn't go downtown to my favorite restaurants. I didn't have long weepy goodbyes with even people I was closest to. Maybe it was better that way, rushed. I guess it would have been even more upsetting if I'd had time to linger.
So Thursday afternoon Luke and I trudged through the four inches of water in the streets, with many suitcases, to get back to Guangzhou for my Friday morning flight. Luke's dad was meeting us there, to see me off at the airport, despite my efforts to dissuade this. He just wanted to, I guess. I had to fight off Cheikh all the way to the bus stop, telling him over and over that no, he couldn't go to the airport with me. But we got there, met dad, still raining, hungry, long way to the hotel by the airport, sore muscles, etc. etc. That was a really long day. We were planning on leaving the hotel at 5am to get to the airport on time, so Luke and I stayed up instead of sleeping for like 3 hours. This was really sad, obviously. Not just like, sad in my head, but actually really sad, in my chest. And then we got to the airport and it felt worse. And then Luke and his dad walked me to the security section, and we hugged and kissed and cried, and then I turned around and walked away, and it felt worse.
Whenever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect, and whistle a happy tune so no one will suspect I'm afraid...
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