Hangzhou

It's tropically warm when I arrive at the airport. The sweaty, moist air reminds me of gym class at primary school. I suspect there might be funghi growing above the ceiling panes. This being my first longhaul flight, I'm not quite sure how to detect signals of a jetlag. However, after having once again confirmed I cannot sleep in any sort of seated position, I'm leaving the plane with surprisingly much energy. This is not because of the food on the plane, by the way. The smell of the microwave food contaminated the entire cabin and the smell was a pretty good indicator for the taste of the mushy pasta, and later of what was supposed to be scrambled eggs. The city seemed to share an odd smell caused by a melange of food everywhere and, quite possibly, feases.

At the airport the first difficulties arise when I can find no one who can speak English (I expected a bit more at an international airport), no ATM that works and no cash to call my contact person, who was supposed to pick me up in the first place. It turned out she e-mailed me, but I was already at Schiphol at that moment. The last problems could've been prevented if I brought some cash money, but the guy at schiphol adviced me to just use the ATM in Hangzhou.

In any case, after nearly two hours I managed to withdraw some cash, call my contactperson and find a cabdriver who speaks two words of English so he can take me to the university campus where I would stay the first night (I thought we would stay there till June 30th but the revised plan means we're already taking the 33-hour train ride tomorrow). It became clear quite quickly that traffic, or any rules for that matter, were merely considered rough guidelines. Thus, I decided instead to focus on the city around me. I notied that literally the entire city was in the process of being build. Never before have I seen so many highrises in scaffolds. The city alters rapidly between these construction sites, poor areas and beautiful places.

My fellow EP's acknowledged me that the city has quite some amazing parts. It's a shame I don't have more time to discover this place myself. However, there is plenty of opportunity for new experiences. Starting tomorrow with the train ride tomorrow, and technically the day after as well. Apparently it's something you must experience. I'm just curious how broken I'll exit the train...