Cough, cough, cough... along with my luggage I was still carrying a cough from Beijing and at this point I was pretty fed up with it. I had only one acupuncture treatment for it in Nanjing. I totally forgot to mention this truly reaffirming experience! Markov brought me to see this TCM Dr. on the Nanjing University campus, he told me his acupuncture was excellent. To keep it concise- EVERY SINGLE NEEDLE he used I experienced no pain during needle insertion and felt firm-radiating Qi rush up or down the channel! "This is acupuncture!" I said to myself and a deep renewal of inspiration flushed over me. He treated my cough and It got much better as the day went on, but I was not resting, I was running all over each city. I felt it was all catching up with me in Hangzhou.
The busy bus terminal was chock full of smug faces. I had no idea where I was, no map, no friends and a crowd full of mugs with bulging eyes, salivating over possible ways to run a scam on me. I saw a hotel and took cover but not a soul spoke English. I went into a general store and bought a map- of course the map was in Chinese, duh. But, I spotted the West Lake (Xi Hu) on the map and knew I wanted to go there, In fact I was told of a great hostel- but, I couldn't remember the name. The lake is HUGE- how was I to know where to go? I studied the map, used some basic logic and mostly intuition and picked a spot- Fu*k it. I got in a cab and with my minimal abilities in Mandarin "I want- go here" was spoken and lucky for me he did not have bulging eyes, bitter breath or sharp teeth. He was a kind man and we spoke in Mandarin on our way to a finger pointed spot on the map. Oh, he talked up a storm and I tried my very best to understand him, even though i didn't, I smiled anyway. I faked my skill level and said "Hao!-Hao- Hen Hao. " (good, good, very good) It seemed to work, I think taxi language is somewhat universal anywhere you go. Now that we made it to the West Lake, I gave the good man a good tip, but he refused and I insisted he take it. I walked along the lake dragging my luggage behind me- I was tired, I was hot-cold, I was coughing, all I wanted was a bed. I spotted a recessed doorway slipped inside and opened my laptop to see if I could get a Wi-fi connection and Eureka! It was coming from a cafe close by. I went inside and got a pot of tea, some food and got online. I googled that hostel I was told about and just like that it was right across the street! What were the chances? I stopped questioning these things sometime ago but I'm never left without awe. I check in and engaged in much needed rest under the stars of the evening, cuddled against the majesty of the West Lake. I awoke to the alleyway chatter of early morning men and a desire to explore the terrain. I made my way from the herbal pharmacies to silk markets, tea shops to the mountain top.
At some point I contemplated having a mid-day nibble and almost went for the live scorpion snacks, next to the frog-on'a-stick... yum. I couldn't do it, not because it was a bucket of scorpions, the bucket just looked dirty to me, eh, maybe next time. As I asked myself the question "could I live here for four years?" the answer was YES! Hangzhou is beautiful- from the blooming flowers on the West Lake to the sky rises downtown, just beautiful. Hangzhou has balance and that is what I loved about it. You can find traditional Chinese culture here with ease, it's alive in the parks and streets and yet, modern Chinese culture lays right beside it in harmony. Hangzhou people are mild mannered and kind... and they don't spit nearly as much.
I got a email from Eric Brand saying he was on his way to Hangzhou to check it out and hang out. Later that night we bounced around the city feasting and frolicking about, good times were on the horizon. But then my bubble burst, Eric told me what day it was and saved my ass- I had my days all mixed up. I thought I had one more day here- I planned on going to Zhejiang University the next morning! But, before I could visit the University I found myself visiting the ticket booth asking for a one way to Shanghai to catch a flight. I went back to checkout of the hostel and there was this girl who was looking at me, I looked back and said, hello. We got to talking and it just so happens she studies Chinese medicine at Zhejiang University! I got to interview "Tehri" about the program and the details that were involved with making it happen. She said great things about Zhejiang University and told me it was well worth her time and effort. I took her email and introduced her to Eric and they planned to meet at the school the next day. Eric said he would check out the school for me and tell me what he thought. I was pretty upset about not being able to make it to Zhejiang University. But, after Eric told me he would investigate the University and Tehri's recommendation it soothed an aspect of my disappointment for not keeping track of time. It was time to make my way home and think about all that I had learned here. It was valuable, I found out what I needed to know about the schools and cities alike, it was not a hard decision to make after I talked with Eric. My heart was in Hangzhou and on that long flight to San Francisco I started to plan a move to China 12 months from this day.
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