Arrival Story
So, our mystery country that we couldn’t mention was China! So I’m really stoked to be in China for the month and so far it’s only been a few days and I love it!
From Manila we flew into Hong Kong and spent a night there before crossing into China. Haha, we tried so hard to be secretive but: we didn’t really need to, and: we weren’t that secretive anyways. For example, exiting the plane we were told to not walk together, not wait on each other going through customs, and the once past custom the largest group we should be in is our team. We also drilled several times what to say if we were asked certain questions by customs officers. I remember our team was told that our meeting spot was at a certain glass elevator in the Hong Kong airport, and we were supposed to wait for our contact there. I thought, “Cool! Each team has a secret meeting location in the airport!”
So we get off the plane, scattered and acting as a bunch of individuals. We arrive at Immigrations where the counters are divided by Hong Kong citizens and Foreigners. So we all end up in the same four lines anyways. Then at the bag claim there are a bunch of Americans (and Canadians and an Irish) standing around pretending not to know each other. I grab my bag and walk right through customs without so much as getting a look-frisk. At the certain glass elevator I notice racers who are also waiting but aren’t on my team. Eventually the whole squad is waiting within 50 feet of this glass elevator and we’re still standing around pretending not to know each other. Finally our one contact for the whole squad walks up also bouncy and happy and says our bus is waiting, so finally we move as a whole squad out to the bus docks! How secretive is that!
The bus takes us through Hong Kong into some village where there is a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base which we all stay at for the night…
Oh my gosh… that night… oh goodness…
Fortunately throughout the race I have had yet to get sick, besides a skin infection. But that night for dinner I must have eaten a bad fishball or something cause I was losing it at both ends. Yet I was also the most touched I’ve ever been on the race so far. You see, I was getting sick in the middle of the night, and on my second trip to the restroom I was in there butt naked, one end on the toilet, the other end in a bucket, guts coming out both ends, and Tommy Sullivan walks in and puts a hand on my shoulder and starts praying for me, reading some scripture, giving me water and some meds… and I remember when I should have felt the most exposed and vulnerable, I didn’t, because he was clothing me with the love of Christ in that moment. I was sick and he looked after me. So Tommy if you’re reading this, thanks again for being a brother!
Anyways, I woke up the next morning weak but fine. A few teams hop back on a bus and we head to the Chinese border. Our bus parks at an unloading dock and before we get off to walk through customs we get a whole rundown about how we’re not going to go all at once, we’re not going to go through in groups of more than 3, we review what to reply and what not to say if we’re asked certain questions… So we all get off the bus, and on our own accord walk into the border station. Once again, the counters are divided for Chinese citizens and Foreigners. Even though we do stagger our arrival a bit, the line and wait is long enough that we all eventually end up inside waiting at the same time, and the staff decides to open a line just for us! Yay! I mean how many foreigners really try to cross into China at this border every 15 minutes? 60? No, that’s too many. We need our own line. So once again, we all end up going through as a group pretending not to know each other, and no one asks us any questions! No questions checking out of Hong Kong, the Chinese guards stamping passports don’t ask any questions either! There’s even a little box on the counter that gives the guard id number and asks “How am I doing?” So as we leave the counter we all press “Perfect!” Hahaha. Praise God that our entry was so painless.
A while longer on the bus and our A-team Remix is dropped off at the Guang Zhou train station. Our train ride is 38 hours long and with 2 beds and 5 seats we take turns sleeping on the beds. How many Chinese can you pack onto a train? A lot. The train sells “standing tickets” so the aisles were full of Chinese people. And they love to smoke. It wasn’t very stressful for me, but a certain team member had a breakdown the first night and stumbled through the train half-asleep yelling “Boo pee al!” which is supposed to mean “upgrade”, and banging helplessly on the window of the locked sleeper car. Poor thing. But that was the most dramatic thing that happened. Other than that it was just a bunch of sitting and sleeping.
We arrive at Harbin, China, in the far north east on a cold, cold winter morning. I mean snow and ice everywhere. We’re picked up by our contact and taken to a nice little apartment to relax and recoop for the day. Safe and sound. Thank you Jesus.
