China 2013 Day 7 Part I: A day of travel to a new city, Jinan. We left the hotel at about 10 am. The driver was none too prompt, and even had to grab a quick bite at the restaurant because he had not eaten yet. My colleague was none too pleased! We buzzed through town and headed out to the main highways. Our driver continued his angry horn-honking ways. I can see how a person could become angry here. Everyone is doing what they want to do without regard for others. In America to exit on the right we would move to the rightmost lane and prepare by slowing down a bit. Not here. We instead move aggressively to the left lane, zoom around traffic, then cut across three lanes of traffic to reach the exit ramp. Hey, we’re in a hurry! Honk! On the bridge over a major road, a truck was broken down. In America, one would move into the breakdown lane on the far right. Here, no such lanes exist. Instead, the broken truck simply stops where it stops. Traffic at 90 km/h just squeezes by the truck, slightly compressing to a minimum side-to-side difference between lanes. Good news…no traffic backups at all. Bad news…your heart might explode if this maneuver does not work. We came upon a scooter of all things on the “interstate” moving at about 30 km/h. For once, the driver was unable to move around the obstacle. Slowing suddenly, we waited for clearance to our left. In only a few seconds, we were able to move around. We swooped around the offending scooter. Now, we are clear and able to accelerate up to speed. But no, our driver then slams on his brakes, nearly stops the car, and waits on the tiny scooter to come up behind. The driver knows the scooter driver will move around to his side of the car, and as the scooter comes alongside he motors beside it. Some polite conversation ensued. I think the driver was sharing his thoughts on the scooter driver’s manhood, intellect, driving skill, and manners. Why? No idea. Maybe a person could grow rich here offering anger management courses. After making it to the airport, we attempted to check in. My big red suitcase was two kilograms too heavy. It was suggested that I carry that two kilograms in a carry-on. Not going to happen the way I packed on this trip. Finally, I got across to the staff and my colleague that I would pay the overweight baggage fee. I was ready for a huge penalty. It was all of 112 RMB. That’s only $18. Thankfully the ordeal only took us 20 minutes. Then, on to security. Here I feared that we would once again face the interrogation of legend, but the bag scan was fairly simple, as was the body wanding. We enjoyed a brief rest in the business class lounge where we had a bit of rice and some HDTV. The flight to Jinan was aboard a modern B737-800 and service was excellent. Within a half-hour, I was unable to maintain consciousness and fell asleep. I don’t know if it is stress, but this entire day was a bit much already.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 09:39:00 +0000
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