Sy, 10th of November 2007
There are moments in life, when you feel strange, i mean, it is something good and bad at the same time. It is difficult to describe. I dont even wish i could. I just feel it.
So, i am still here in China. I think someday i will laugh about this, because, somehow, it IS funny. It is nothing "serious", it is just that, without a passport, anyone more or less becomes no one. At least you cannot travel anywhere. On Monday, the 5th of november, a gray day over here, i lost my passport. Everything began really early.At 6 am we took a taxi in the south gate of the school, that was supposed to bring us to the long distance express
bus station, where we would take the bus to Dan dong. Well, as the taxi driver brought us to the wrong bus station, and as he just didnt want to understand that we wanted to go to the other one, near the train station (damm, i have tried to explain it, but well, my language knowledges are definitelly not good enough, and, he was not smart enough to find himself in the map we were showing), i got kinda upset and left the car without noticing that my passport just had
felt down from my bag. I know, i know, i know, i should have been more careful, and so on. I am, always, careful with documents. It is the first time i lose a document. The thing was, as i put the pass inside the chinese book, and i didnt expected to need it. So, when i was trying to talk to the taxi driver, i had to take to book, and i just forgot to put the passport in a safe place inside my bag. Well, whatever, i doesnt matter now. Anyway, we took another taxi to go to the other station, and could even manage to get the bus at 7 to Dandong. Inside the bus
i start checking my bag, and, surprise, pass is gone. First difficult moment: the bus driver didnt want to stop the bus, so we could get out. After 10min trying to explain it, saying that
we had to go out to find my passport, and they just always saying, they just can not stop the bus, what do they ask me? if i could show my passport!! well, i thought it was a joke, but it wasnt.
No one had understood anything, and after almost not believing we would get out of the bus, the "stewardess" of the bus had make some calls, and the got "permission" to stop the bus.
Well, the first thing i did was to call the only person who could really help us, and start to search for the lost document. It is such a strange feeling, 3 days before going home, to realize what you will have to go through, without the piece of paper used to prove that you are you, so you can travel through borders. At the first bus station (the wrong one), we had the luck that people were really trying to help. So, we explained everything again,
people laugh, i don't know if they really think it is funny, or if they dont realize the seriousness of the situation. So are the Chinese, they are always under controll, they never show any sign of being nervous or whatever. Well, the police showed up and the bus station staff explained the situation to them, in the mean time we had some radio broadcasting the lost, so if taxi drivers have found it, they could know where to send it. At some time, just when i had lost my nerves and had let some tear out, someone come and say, oh, we found your passport. Too good to be true. To bad no to speak the language. At the end what was the deal: yes, someone had found it, more precisely 2 migrants from the countryside that came to
work, probably in the many constructions sites. How did they figure that out? Well, they showed my pass to the lady in the luggage store, and asked what to do. She just said she didn't know what it was, and what to do with it. That would be expect to much, i guess?
So the workers left their 2 bags there, and payed in advance for 2 days, until Wednesday at 16.30. We asked them to check the bags, in case they hat put the pass inside, they didnt want, and after, they just said they checked and found nothing, and the lady
(she had silver shoes) just said she saw that the workers took the pass with them. Oh God, what a fate. So there they are, two of the thousand migrants from the countryside that everyday try their luck in the city, there is enough work anyway. Waiting is the most difficult things in these situations. I had hope (i still have!) they would show up sometime. And that they would have
the pass. Times passes, you keep thinking positive, but also start to take the necessary measures for the worst case. You dont sleep, and if, only nightmares.
Who knows where these people is right now? Who knows what they might have done with my pass. Days passed and i tried to solve the things, reported the lost to the police (normaly it takes 1 week till the can give you a certificate of lost) changed flight, contacted embassies, bying tickets to Beijing and so on. The Brazilian embassy said they can give me a new passport quite quickly, and the problem is now the visa to Germany. Jesus, this is a torture.
Also the Chinese police responsible for foreigners wants a new visa. So, having a passport is not the most important thing, you have to have the right stemps inside. Ha, this is the world.
The other "funny" thing: It was Oli´s last night here, and there was a blackout. We woke up next day early, still not electricity (and no water, and no heating). Taxi to the airport, Oli checked in. I went back by bus very sad, just wishing i could be going home as well. Going back home, i feel like being in a movie. The day was so gray, smoggy and it had been raining for hours, not pouring, just nisseln. It seemed like the end of the world. And still no electricity.
Spent the afternoon reading, and trying to work a bit. It is amazing how dependent we are on energy. There is nothing to do, i dont even had warm water to make some tea. At least later on, i could buy some beer at the restaurant, when i receive Oli´s call that he was still in the airport in Shenyang. All flights cancelled, because of the weather. That is it, even having a pass and a ticket, sometimes you just can not move nowhere. Oli came back to the school, and we had candle light dinner, and watched movie with the last two hours of my computers battery.
Next day started good again, despite the fights and long phone calls with people from the flight company (air china), he had electricity again. Also again with the right help we could manage to get a ticket for today, the saturday. Some more this and thats to solve, day still gray, but less than the day before. Now Oli is gone, and i am here trying to work, or not to go crazy. It is good that i know i will be able to solve things in the next week, and it is good
to have a flight back. But i just didnt need all this right now, still so many things to do for the winter term, and i am not even there yet. I just hope, when i am back home, that also the "Gluck" is back for me. This feeling of atrackting everykind of unluck is not good.
Time for a break now .
