Almost missed my bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing. I showed up to the gate with only minutes to spare and found out I needed a paper ticket and not a digital one. There was a computer where I could print my ticket but I didn't have some sort of train card. With everything in Chinese, I had to find the ticket window. No surprise, there was a MASSIVE line. It easily would have taken me 30 mins to get through. I had less than 5 until my train left. So I ran up to the gate and showed them my phone. The woman there asked for my paper ticket. I wish someone had taken my picture in that moment. Pure desperation and exhaustion. I shook my head and pointed toward my phone. I don't know why, but she let me through. God bless that wonderful woman.
Met some American students from Arkansas on the train! They were studying Chinese in Shanghai and are now traveling to Beijing to visit. It's always comforting to talk to someone from the US.
Once I got to Beijing, I met an awesome Chinese girl named Stella who goes to school studying English near Shanghai. She said she doesn't have any friends and asked if we could be friends. Ummm definitely!!! Sadly we were going in different directions but she said to ask her any questions on WeChat (Chinese social media). People are awesome.
Hopped off the train and began looking for my Airbnb. I didn't have wifi so that was difficult. Long story short, I looked for it for 3 hours. Exhausting to say the least. One guy helped me by calling the hostel and looking up directions on his phone. He had the cutest baby boy I may have ever seen. I regret not photographing them because they were awesome. I was too frustrated and tired to whip out my camera. Turns out that I got off at the wrong station. Luckily, I found a bookstore that was selling some English books and I picked up Robinson Crusoe. Seemed fitting.
Short summary: Almost missed my train and got lost in China for 3 hours. I could not be happier right now. 😊