"It's always calmest before the storm." - someone much smarter than me (maybe Shakespeare? He was smart, that sounds like something he'd say)
Peter picked me up at my hotel at 9 in the morning on a different scooter than the one he had driven me on the day before.
"Why do you have two scooters?" I asked.
"The other one is louder," he replied.
As we speed towards the subway station, I still felt that ecstasy I felt the night before. I was going to my new home, my home in the city. It was going to be a great day.
The subway station was filled with scooters so Peter dropped me off while he looked for a parking spot. I walked into McDonald's a got a coffee, by far the best coffee I have had in China. It's the only coffee that's not super sweet and 50% soy milk. I texted Peter asking him if he wanted me to get him anything but he didn't respond.
In the subway station, I bought my subway card and put some money on it. Peter had left his subway card at home, so I lent him 100 yuan so he could by another one too. Peter was very embarrassed by this, but I was more than happy to give him money. Despite his intense hatred for me, I like Peter quite a bit. I find him incredibly endearing, and I really enjoy bothering him.
On the subway, Peter didn't talk to me at all. He just played on his cell phone. I didn't care, I was able to sneak a couple silly pictures of him for my instagram. And I enjoyed looking out the window. The subway was pretty empty and I began to fantasize about doing guided meditation on the train with some headphones, or bringing my laptop out and writing on the train. I could read my books. The commute could be some valuable me time on the way to work.
Plus, the commute is quite beautiful. The subway goes over the ten kilometer bridge that crosses the giant lake on the outskirt of Gaochun. Their are green fields and brown fields covered in murky water. Giant mountains with temples on top. Giant colleges in the middle of nowhere that teach obscure subjects. It's a gas!
"So that girl you were holding hands with at the mall, was that your girlfriend."
Peter's face gets beet red.
"Yes."
"How did you meet her?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I meet her on the street."
"Do you love her?"
Peter sighed heavily and went back to his phone.
After about 45 minutes, we get off the first subway and get on a second one. This commute is less beautiful and much more crowded than the first, (it's mostly in tunnels, like an American subway) but I'm still in a good mood. I could read on this train and write on my computer on the other one. After another 45 minutes, Peter lets me know this is our exit. But we aren't in Nanjing yet, that's another 4 stops away.
"Where are we?" I ask Peter.
"I don't know. But this is where that girl lives."
Peter doesn't know Salma's name, he always calls her "that girl." I think he assumes I have a crush on her because I got excited that I could talk to someone in English. He's also right though, I maybe do have a slight crush on her. But I have a crush on everyone, so it barely counts.
We get off the subway and we are in a dingy little city. Everything is filthy. Wild dogs are running around, and lots of shirtless sweaty men sit around smoking cigarettes. The place reeks of urine and smog.
"What's the name of the subway stop?"
"I don't know. We still have thirty minutes before our appointment, do you want to get something to eat?"
"Sure."
I pull out my phone and try to find out where I am and if there is anything to do. I peak at the subway stop, which says Chunxi (or something like that). I look up stuff on trip advisor, but it still seems like I'm not really near anything. There is nothing to do here either.
Peter takes me to some Chinese restaurant where there are lots of pre-made plates that you grab and put on a tray. He grabs orange chicken, some pork thing, seaweed, and some rice. I grab the same pork thing, some rice, what looks like a beef thing and what looks like a chicken thing.
"What's that?" Peter asks.
"I have no idea. I just grabbed things."
I take a bite of the beef looking thing.
"Liver?"
I snag a photo of the food but make sure to keep Peter in frame, again, without his knowledge.
We meet with the guy who is showing us around, a young twenty something dude wearing a backpack. He obviously has never been to this apartment before, he keeps leading us the wrong way and turning back around. He is staring at a map on his phone the entire time.
Meanwhile, I start texting Salma.
"Hey Salma, so it looks like I might end of living by you instead of in Gaochun. Peter is showing my some apartments around here right now. Is there fun stuff to do at here?"
Salma texts me back right away. A great sign.
"Yeah there is lots to do. There are too many malls."
Malls? God dammit, why does everyone here love malls.
"Is there any place to grab a drink?"
"Yes there is a bar called 1912 where lots of Americans hang out. And there are lots of international students."
Okay, that's better. Possible friends sounds very nice.
We finally find the apartment and head up stairs. The place is a pig sty. Shoes are strewn around everywhere. They show me my room. It's small. Like small small. There is a bed, a desk and a closet. There is no walking room whatsoever, if you aren't sitting at the desk you are lying in the bed. The bathroom is covered in a dark brown film. There are also three roommates. This is literally a college dorm.
We go look at two other dorms that are a little bigger, but virtually the same. Filthy, small and with three other college students living in them. None of them look like the apartment I said I liked yesterday at lunch.
As we leave, Peter asks me if I still want to live here or if I want to live in Gaochun. I am really on the fence. These apartments were way worse than I expected and I still don't know if there is anything for me to do out here really. Would the hour and a half commute and shitty apartment with college kids be worth the possibility of a bar and some English speakers?
Peter keeps saying, "If you live in Gaochun, you can live like a King!"
I ask for the night to think about it. On the subway ride back, all elation is gone. I suddenly feel exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open. Peter is playing on his phone again, so I have nothing to do and no one to talk to. Suddenly this move doesn't seem like a good idea.
When we get back to Gaochun, Peter drives me over to a private post office to pick up the universal wall adapter Josie ordered for me. The owner is out making deliveries, so Peter and I stop a get some caramel milk teas and some tofu marinated in a spicy sauce. They are both delicious.
By the time I get back to the hotel, I am dead beat. I wanted to use my universal charger to start blogging again, but I'm in a weird mood. I instagram message a few friends asking for advice and they all tell me to stay in Gaochun.
I pull out my laptop, plug in my universal charger and instantly start watching pornography. Lots of new pornography has come out since I last watched any, so I have a lot to catch up on. I masturbate for about an hour, take a shower, and then start watching pornography and masturbating again. It's the only thing I want to do. I find myself mostly watching pornography with women who are the same race Mitchell was. (I'm not going to tell you her race though, that's none of your business.) I get caught in a 5 hour long endless shower and masturbation cycle. I jerk it, clean myself off, and then go jerk it again. I feel defeated and I feel disgusting. I have lost. For days I have been complaining about being unable to blog, and now that I finally can, I am unable to write a single word. So, I take another shower, pop on another porno, and crank it until I fall asleep.
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