Reflections on Surprises

(Ric Luskin)

I knew China was going to be a land of surprises. Little did I know that my biggest surprise was arriving to find that I couldn't get into the country! I know that my border exploits were covered by the kids in an earlier blog - the good thing about being deported back to Kowloon was having unfettered access from the many available internet stations (my favorite being Pacific Coffee, a chain that for my money beats Starbucks hands down). If it hasn't already been noted, we can't access the blog from within China...

It goes without saying that if a visa issue was to arrise, it was far preferable for me to get bounced than Terry or one of the kids! The blood runs cold imagining what would have happened if it was one of the others who received the "Sorry... there is a problem..." greeting at customs. For me it was a minor inconvenience, albeit one frought with complications. A few days to cool my jets in an amazing international city - how painful could that be? Lets start with this premise. Imagine arriving in Manhattan on New Year's eve and needing to find a hotel room in Times Square. Now further imagine needing to get an official government document processed during Christmas when governemnt office are all closed. Suddenly both of these scenarios were my reality. Only I wasn't in New York. I was in Hong Kong which, although unquestionably international, is still a very foreign place.

To make a long story short, all worked out in the end and after a 48 hour delay I was able to savor a terrific reunion with Terry and the kids here in Yangshuo - a most amazing place to be sure. While I'd have preferred to have arrived like a "normal" China Exchange member, I certainly have a whole slew of separate adventures recorded in my journal that I will be happy to share with relatives and friends at a later date. In the meantime, gotta scoot to meet up with Team China for the next leg of our amazing journey. And while I welcome all of the surprises yet to come our way, I'm hoping that none will be quite as jarring as the one I experienced last Saturday at Guangzhou train station.

PS - even though I was deported, I still had to pay for the train ticket back to Hong Kong! You'd think deportation would be "free"...