From Shangai to Kunming
As the rice paddies and terraced hills flew past the windows like images on a television screen, we made our way bumping and chugging along the tracks toward Kunming. On the train, food carts passed every fifteen minutes or so offering us treats of instant soup, crackers, and other Chinese goodies. On the wall of the foot-wide aisle Claire posted a schedule for the day. Just like every other school day, we had our six classes scheduled along with an hour of study hall after dinner. The loud classical Chinese music filled our ears as we slowed to a halt at another stop. A woman's voice came over the loud speaker in rapid foreign tongue. The doors opened and Sam and David ran out onto the platform to purchase breakfast from the waiting vendors before the train started to move once again. First period started and Shane began to explain more complex algebra to Sean as we made our way through tunnels and over bridges. Factories with billowing smoke rising from giant stacks came into view. Claire taught espanol uno y dos in a crowded cabin where six students slept the previous night. The beds were stacked three high on both sides of a small aisle. The temperature dropped as we climbed higher and higher into the hazy mountains. As nightfall came, we fell asleep in our tiny beds anxious of what the next morning and a new city would bring.
by Michelle Yates