Meltdown in Chinatown

Well if any of you had an over/under about when I'd have my first meltdown, if your guess was on day two, you win!! 

I stayed in Hong Kong my first night and had a blast. I reconnected with an old friend and made a new one, had lots of laughs, danced and drank Chinese beer. It was great!

The next day, I collected my bags and made the short trip across the border into China. It was surprisingly easy.  I took the MTR (subway) straight to the immigration center in Shenzhen.  Brilliant. 

This is where things begin to go south. 

Smartly, as I was traveling alone, I packed all my stuff into 2 suitcases and one cross body bag. However I packed for 3 months, so the bags were heavy. Walking and pulling these two suitcases behind me was a workout in itself. Once I cleared customs, I was told, my hotel would be in walking distance. This is true. It was approximately a half mile from the entrance to the station. I'd already been dragging these bags for a while and my hands were cramped, it was hot and I was walking at a snails pace when I was pulling the bags, and had switched to push them, which seemed to be faster but also very cumbersome. Regardless, it was the home stretch. I mean I could SEE the hotel for Christ sake. 

By the time I got to the street I was dripping with sweat, and I was actually telling myself how fucking great it was that I only had 2 bags. Imagine if I'd packed a third?? Oh my god I don't know what I'd have done. 

Then I notice the white fence that is all around the street. There is NO WAY TO CROSS THE STREET. How the fuck am I supposed to get to my hotel? I'm now rethinking the cabbie who insisted he drive me while simultaneously trying not to cry. 

I ask someone and he points to the underground and then points to the hotel. Great. I have to backtrack. So I'm REALLY fighting back tears now because not only do I have to drag these bags uphill (it was a slight grade, but it was hell) the elevator was out so I have to get them both down an escalator. 

Incredibly, I get down the escalator without incident. I start walking through the tunnel. At this point I'm cursing the entire Chinese race in my head and thinking how proud I am to live in a country where if anyone saw another person struggling the way I was, they'd offer to help. 

Finally, I see light, and know this battle is almost over. And then I see stairs. 2 sets of stairs. No escalator. You're fucking kidding me. There's not a chance in hell I could lug these two bags up a huge flight of stairs. I turn around and absolutely lose it. I'm just standing there crying in a tunnel, sweating, literally having no idea how I'm going to get to my hotel. If that's not a vision of pure beauty, I don't know what is. 

And then, my faith in humanity (and the Chinese race) is restored when a sweet man approaches me and speaks English, and tells me that I don't need to cry and he will help me. Bless his heart, he was not a large man, but he lugged that suitcase up those stairs and out of nowhere another nice man drug up the other one. 

By the time I thank them profusely and walk into the lobby of the hotel, I've stopped crying.  I realize that the lobby is a bit more run down than the pics on the website showed, but it was just the lobby, so I checked in and went up to my room.  I had reserved a non-smoking room.  It still boggles my mind that there are hotels in the world where smoking is ok on some floors, but that is another topic.  I walk in and the room smells musty and there is a hint of cigarette smoke.  The room is also much more run down than the pictures portrayed and it is also incredibly small.  Do note, that I am a freak about hotel research and I scour the internet reading reviews before I book anything.  I'd say my success rate in being satisfied with hotels by using this method is about 90%.  Well this hotel fell into that dreaded 10%.  So what do I do?  What any normal person would do, I immediately start crying again.  Go ahead and laugh, I'm laughing as I type this.

I sat there for about an hour feeling sorry for myself and then decided to go walk around the area and see what my surroundings were like.  To say it wasn't in the slightest what I had expected is an understatement.  I had been given plenty of feedback about Shenzhen from people who had been here, and I took it all with a grain of salt, but now I was thinking "holy shit, they were all right...what am I going to do??"

I get some dinner, shower and go to bed.  I needed sleep and had a big day on Monday.

Upon arriving at the MTR station where I was told to exit to get to the office, I realize that I do not have the address of the office in my possession.  Being that I'd had a rough day the day before, my emotions were on high and I was constantly on the verge of a meltdown.  Thankfully I called the mainline to the office and in describing where I was to the receptionist, I learned that I was in fact, right in front of the office.  Yay!

This is where things start to turn around.  

My coworkers are wonderful.  They took me to lunch and asked me where I was staying and how it was.  Their faces said it all when I told them the name and location of my hotel.  They all agreed that there is no way a female who is alone should be staying there and advised to switch immediately.  I spent the afternoon on the phone with another hotel in an area of town that they suggested, negotiated the same rate I had at the current hotel and made plans to arrive there that night.

I was nervous about checking out of the first hotel, and one of my coworkers volunteered to come with me, assist in my check out (he said I needed a local) and drive me to my new hotel.  Really?? SO NICE.

I still have no idea what he told them that made them not question my check out, but I really don't care.  My new hotel is wonderful and I feel like I'm living in a city vs. a 3rd world country.  I have walked around the last 2 nights and I feel incredibly safe.  I'm excited to explore the area and am once again confident in the decision I made to do this assignment.

My first 24 hours here were tough, but the next 48 have been great.  While it is still incredibly surreal that I am here until September, I'm looking forward to how the rest of the journey unfolds.  I've also downloaded a countdown app so I can quickly look to see how many days I have until I meet Kris in Shanghai.  36 in case any of you would like to countdown with me.

Cheers!