Day 1

Chennai to China -

Day 1

I have no plans of keeping a journal or writing a blog. Habits die hard, there is an urge inside that calls keep a record of what I saw and did. So here I am sitting and writing a blog.

Let me start with the airport in Chennai. I was a bit delayed because of traffic, most importantly I was doing silly things till the end. The car was on time, I just had to leave, but I began small details before leaving and was trying to get over with them. I jumped into the car. Half way, I realized that I had not eaten and the flight was only at 11:30. I asked the driver to stop in a restaurant, had a dosai, packed two for the driver and his friend and got right back.

Once I reached the Airport, there was a long queue. It looked hopeless, the line was to let go and scan their luggage. Suddenly we were moving fast. We realized that the delay was because a senior citizen was in the wrong place and was gathering his luggage to leave the terminal. After this I scanned the luggage and went to the check – in counter. As usual, I fell in line with the least number of people. Only a family was ahead of me. They had two children. The man had 8 bags. He wanted to check – in the hand baggage as well. He was allowed to do so but he had to go back to the scanner and come to the counter. Once this was done there were repeated problems with checking in. By then the queue had grown. People behind me were cursing the counter personnel. It took almost 20 min to check that one family. In the meantime people who were far behind me in the neighbouring lines had moved past the immigration.

I then managed to get myself checked in. There was no window available. I got my much hated aisle seat. It was an emergency exit seat.

At the immigration, there was another snaking line that inched. The good thing was that there were many people attending to us. When it was my turn I went and greeted the official. She looked at my departure card and said, “Social Worker? What do you do?” I said that it was my profession. She brightened up and said, “Sir I am also a Social Worker, I studied Social work and then joined the police services”. It was a pleasant surprise. Shyamala had graduated from Sacred Heart College. While the conversation was on, she was flipping the pages on my passport. She was searching for a place to put a seal. Since I had only one page left she looked for some empty space and stamped my exit.

I waited and boarded the plane. I got an emergency seat with no one in front. It had plenty of leg room. I guess it is the best seat if you want to relax. But the staff of the Malaysian airlines looked a bit too slow to respond. I had to ask six times to get a glass of water. Then I understood that they were understaffed and four people had to cater to the whole aircraft.

I did not sleep very well, felt very disturbed but the toilet door that opened and closed every five minutes. Then the midnight meals came in and then the water, then the tea and then the flight landed.

Landing in KL was smooth. With a good 3 hours left before boarding, I decided to look around a bit. The airport was quite big and beautiful. The Duty free shops were all having discounts going. They were inviting, but I was not too enthused. I wanted to find an electronic store. Once I found it I started exploring the latest gadgets. Soon it was time to leave.

I took a monorail and got to the terminal G2. I found a long bench and saw people stretching on it. So I did the same. After a while the gate opened. About 10 of us had got into the gate and we waited for a few more people who were traveling for the conference. They did not get past the gate. A person from the airline then told me that there was a technical fault with the plane and hence we were taken another aircraft. My friends breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, I was getting to know the people who were going to the conference. Malathi, was going to be on my panel, she was calm and composed. Padmini Balaram, a short woman who worked in Coimbatore appeared to be nice but actually began getting on my nerves very soon. We had accommodation but she was so unsure and was breathing down my neck. I met Herath a lecturer a the Jeyawardenapura University in Sri Lanka, and Kamakshi Mubarak, a research fellow from Oxford.

We got into the plane. we rested a bit and then we landed in Kunming. The view before landing was spectacular. A range of green mountains bodering the sky scraper city. The landing was so smooth that we did not even know that we had landed.

Everything happened so fast and smooth. Our luggage was out and we got out within a few minutes. Changed money, got to a line for the taxi and waited. It was a long line once again. We had to stand in the smoke. The number of people who smoke in this country is very alarming. Every second person smokes. They smoke on the road, in the car, in the toilet, in the hall and in all place you cant imagine.

We got to the university. The registration was at the Gymnasium. It sounded good. We went there to find out that things were so organized. Except for the language there were no issues. While we were registering, Padmini Balram was busy trying to request for accommodation. I had known of a friend who was scheduled to come but dropped out at the last moment. So I suggested her to take that room. She caught on to that idea and went on nagging all the people for accommodation. I could understand her situation. She had arranged with a friend as an alternative. But her friend had left for Beijing. So she was out of luck.

After running from pillar to post she finally found that the letter of registration said that she had accommodation. She was so thrilled and scooted to her room.

I got a room on the 4^th floor. There is no lift. So I just walk up and down. They gave me a key. I put my luggage in it and went for a walk. Guess what I stumble into, an electronics mall. I had a good look at it and walked around to familiarize myself with the town. Then I got back and tried to open my door. The key moved easily, but when I turned it, half the key was in my hand and half of it was in the key hole.

I then called the volunteers for help. Effectively they got a technician in five minutes and fixed it.

I went in washed and went for a sumptuous dinner. It was a Chinese dinner, real Chinese. The only problem was that something that I had eaten had a strong flavor. I think it had vinegar, as I kept eating it I almost puked. I looked for some bananas but found those dragon eye fruits and ate them to change the taste. Even now when I think of that flavor I feel like puking.

I got back to my room, took out the reading materials and read though most of it and am ready to hit bed.

Tomorrow I have my session. I will also tell about the volunteers who are doing a great job.