Day 10: Back to Beijing

            So last night, after I wrote my last post, Evan, James and I left our hotel for the Shanghai train station to board the sleeper train to Beijing.  We walked to the metro (for some reason we went to the stop that’s past the one closest to us…trust me, that was not my call) and I had a smallish rolling suitcase which is fairly manageable but I knew I would probably have to carry it down some stairs.  Well, James and Evan are significantly taller than me and found it necessary to walk at full speed to the subway station which meant that I was having to take about 3 steps to keep up with their one and I had my big purse and suitcase so that was difficult.  We got on the train, took the subway a few stops, and had to trade lines.  We had several escalators to go up, but my lovely companions decided they were too crowded and we should take the stairs.  Whaaaa? I know.  I was thinking some very unholy thoughts about them right about then (as Rachel would say).  So there’s a little insight into my relationship with James and Evan.*              So we got on the sleeper train with the other 12 or so Shanghai interns (who are all very nice and I’m sure had enough sense to take the escalator).  The train was pretty interesting- supposedly it was the nicest one and there were little booths with four beds in each, two on top of the other two.  The beds had sheets draped over them, Mom, so don’t worry, we did not get lice and nothing got stolen (although I’m not sure that has anything to do with the sheets).  We actually had our own tvs, but I went to bed pretty quickly to avoid getting motion sick.  And actually I didn’t wake up until about 7 the next morning when we were about 15 minutes from the Beijing station so overall it was a pretty decent experience.  My one regret is that neither Evan nor James got any of my Hogwarts Express jokes which was seriously disappointing but, to be honest, not all that surprising.

            So when we got in this morning we headed in taxis to our hotel for today and tomorrow, the “Home Inn”.  I’m pretty sure it’s as far from home as I’m ever going to get, but I don’t have the proper language skills to convey that to the staff here.  Luckily I had the foresight to bring my passport (not like it took much intuition to remember that although a few did not have such foresight) and so it was easy getting checked in.  The room is decent and seems pretty clean, has internet and a regular toilet so I we’re happy.  I’m rooming with another Shanghai intern who seems nice.  After showering and getting situated, I headed over to the Grand Millenium Hotel with another boy where the performance is tonight for some rehearsals.  These were rather chaotic, but the decorations and place settings looked beautiful.

            After rehearsals and finding some lunch (I had my safety, egg and tomato noodles which are actually so good) and changing for the actual performance, I headed back over to the hotel and the real fun began.  The dinner was actually quite delicious and there were no chopsticks to be seen which was nice.  The musical program went really well, I thought.  The choir was fine (ok let’s be honest, it really wasn’t that good) but the other acts were very good.  Probably the most memorable moment of the night happened at the very end, right before the closing song, Come Thou Fount, which I was accompanying on and Wendy, another intern, was singing.  John Chen invited me, Wendy, and two of the host company CEOs to the stage to each answer a question.  (This was so out of place, I have no clue why he did this, I felt like I was in a Miss America pageant in the worst way).  So he asked the CEOs questions like “Why is COFCO such a favorite with the interns” which were both answered completely in Chinese, so none of us greenies could understand anyway.  Then he gave a little introduction to me and asked me “After this event and your first time in China, what will you tell your mom about China” (Mom- I guess he remembers your previous involvement with the program).  I answered with something about the love the Chinese people have for their country and made a reference to the previous two performers who were from Yanaan, or something like that.  So I think it went pretty well for the most part, besides the part about me being on stage answering a question in front of two hundred people including CEOs of China’s top companies.  Lovely.  But it was definitely memorable and really made my previous assessment “If I can survive this weekend, I can survive anything” more true than I thought it was going to be.  Anyways, after that little fiasco “Come Thou Fount” was a piece of cake and I thought sounded really good. 

*For the sake of those mentioned and the lack of the privacy that is the internet, I have omitted the remainder of my opinions about these two lovelies.