The Language Barrier Got In the Way.

Tuesday: I find my passport laying on the ground and decide that that might not be a good place for it.  I pick it up and decided to take a look at my visa.  I notice that I have been in China for almost three months which is close to ninety days which is the maximum number of days that I can stay in China on the first entry of this tourist visa.

Wednesday: I tell Jennifer, my Chinese co-worker and class translator, "I need to go to Mongolia this coming weekend to renew my visa."

Thursday: Jennifer responds, "You want to go to go to a different country?  How many nights will you spend there?"
I clarify, "No nights.  I just need to go to Mongolia for ten minutes.  My passport needs to say that I left China and then I re-entered China."
Jennifer asks, "Who will go with you?"
I ask, "Will you go with me?"
Jennifer agrees to go with me.
"What day do you want to leave?" -Jennifer
"Sunday, November 6th." -Hope
"I was born on November 6th, 1986." -Jennifer
"OMG! It's your birthday this Sunday?!?  We are going to spend your 25th birthday on the train?" -Hope
"It's not my birthday." -Jennifer
"According to me and America, it is your birthday this Sunday."

Friday: "I don't have my passport with me in Harbin.  It is at my parent's house, a three-hour train ride away.  I won't be able to go with you when you go across the border." -Jennifer
"That's alright.  I'll only be in Mongolia for ten minutes." -Hope

Saturday: I think up what can I do in those ten minutes?
 I could:

• exchange yuan for the local currency and keep one coin for my collection
• buy some candy to eat on the train ride home
• look for a really cheesy souvenir to buy ten of and give to all my friends back home for that time I was             in Mongolia.  Love you guys.  You've got some wooden doll key chains coming your way.   
• take a few pictures
• ask a Mongol to take a few pictures of me
• buy a bottle of water

Sunday: I come in the office singing, "Mongolia, we shall go.  Mongolia, we shall go.  Hi-ho-the dairy oh! Mongolia, we shall go." and Jennifer joins me in singing this song. At 9:15 PM, we board the train (that is the closest thing I have ever seen that looks like Hogwarts Express).  We find our beds and we get the top bunk!  Tippy-top, up to the ceiling.  Jennifer told me that we should only climb up there if we are going to go to sleep because there isn't room to sit up straight.  I climb up still wearing my boots, and Jennifer politely translates to me that the everyone is concerned about me having my shoes still on.   I put my bags down, up on my bed; and I climb back down.  I give Jennifer a homemade birthday card and a copy of The Little Prince as her birthday gift. We sit and talk about China and America.  She tells me that so many people are only concerned about money here and that some people will only do something if they can make money out of it.  She asks me what I think the main difference is between her country and mine.  I quickly say, "the language." and later say, "the government."  I politely state that people think differently when they are under different forms of government.  She has heard me say this before and agrees that people think very differently.  She stated that she thinks the Chinese are taught to remember facts and figures like dates in history and that Americans are taught how to think.  We also are able to talk openly and freely about our own views on government, humanity, and even religion.  I had a good feeling about asking her to come with me to Mongolia.

Monday: I wake up at 6ish to some loudass Chinese travelers.  Who the hell knows what they are talking about at this time in the morning?  I am also awakened by the scent of burning cigarettes.  This smell at this time actually reminds me of mornings when I would wake up at my mom's house when I was little.  Always early and she was already up cooking breakfast and smoking cigarettes.  I smiled and checked my watch for the date.  November 7.  Wow, it is already November 7th.  I looked out the window (the bottom half that was visible from the ceiling) and saw that the ground was covered white.  I smiled again thinking about it now feeling like Christmas Day at Mom's house.  Jennifer wakes up and shows me on her hand where we are currently.  I put my headphones on, listen to Mozart, and fall back to sleep.  Eventually, we both are up and sharing fruit and cups of tea at the window seat watching the white go by.  Everything was white.  Every part of the tree's bark was covered in white ice.  This scene lasts for a few minutes until suddenly it looks like a desert outside with brown sand dunes and windmills.  I even saw some herds of sheep and asked if we were in Mongolia.  Jennifer told me that we were still in China.
      Later, we get off the train and come to a sign that says "MANZHOULI EXTENDS A MARW WELCOME TO YOU."  I ask Jennifer if we are in Mongolia, and she tells me that we are still in China.    She states that we need to take a taxi to the customs office where they will stamp me out.  We get a taxi as we both sing another little song about going to Mongolia.  During this taxi ride, I start to notice that all the signs we pass are written in three languages: Chinese, English, and Russian.  We arrive at the border, and with some Chinese talk and some translation I am told that Russia is on the other side of that Chinese guard in uniform.  Jennifer asks me if Russia has sent me any invitation into their country.  I reply that I do not have a Russian visa and that I will not be able to go into Russia.  I ask, "Where is Mongolia from here?"  Jennifer replies that the Mongolian customs office is closed because not a lot of people want to go to Mongolia. After four hours of talking with each other, talking with other foreigners, and talking with some government officials it is confirmed that I will not leave the country today.  We buy train tickets back to Harbin.
      8:17 PM finally comes and we board the train.  We are in the "hard" seats but immediately ask for a soft-sleeper.  A lady writes the numbers 19 and 20 on our tickets and tells us to wait for three hours.  We take our seats next to six other men who (I am guessing) have together "went in" on two cases of beer.  Remember that time in the Titanic when Jack takes Rose to the lower deck for "a real party."  The Number 7 car was kind of like that scene except no one was dancing or smiling really.  The man facing me looks like he just got kicked out of a party.  He finishes off his beer, chucks the empty beer can out the window of the train, and opens another.  I look at Jennifer and wonder if crying is a justified reason to close the open window.  She supports me and we both struggle to pull the window shut; It would have closed completely if large chunks of ice had not formed at its seal.  I tell myself a little fresh air on this 15-hour train ride will do me good.
     The next few hours are spent falling asleep and waking up to six drunken men starring at the American girl who just woke up.  I decide to fall back to sleep.  I say some prayers and send some positive energy out hoping that number 19 and 20 get called.  Within a few songs on my iPod, Jennifer wakes me up proudly stating, "We got the beds!"  We waste no time in saying goodnight and quickly fall asleep.
   
Tuesday: I wake up to the smell of another lit cigarette and relief that I will soon be back in Harbin.  Jennifer and I share two more apples and two more cups of tea.  Within a few hours, we are in a taxi headed to work.  I walk in wearing the same oufit I left in on Sunday night with the only difference being that I haven't brushed my teeth.  Words are exchanged about how I should probably fly to South Korea or Hong Kong and how maybe I should pack up all my stuff anyways just in case.  I fall asleep on a pink couch until someone wakes me up and takes me to some visa office.  I handover my passport with a hope that I don't become an illegal alien of China this next Monday.