On Monday morning, Alvin and I were heading to Shanghai to visit family. Our flight was at 8am and we had a layover in the city of Xian. And then this is when the trouble hit. Our flight was supposed to leave at 10am to Shanghai, but we didn't leave until 4:00pm, and we arrived six hours late.
The day before, a friend was telling us how she didn't think the Chinese complained about time as much and her example was a delayed flight she was on. She was correct, for the first 45 minutes. And then, trouble began. Here is a schedule of what was happening:
10:00-10:45am - On the plane. Calmness.
10:45-11:15am - On the plane. Anxiety building.
11:15am- 12:15pm - A flight attendant announces that the delay is because of traffic control and we will be leaving at noon. Calmness.
12:15- 12:45pm - Flight attendant announces that there is a mechanical error and we will have to wait for unknown amount of time. Now the most vocal guests run up to the front and start demanding to get off the flight and want their money back. A huge verbal match occurs where the flight attendant tells a man to stop yelling, and then the crowd starts yelling at the flight attendant that she has no right to say that. The verbal match gets pretty heated and loud.
12:45- 1:00pm- We are all escorted back to the gate.
1:00-3:30pm- The whole crowd loudly yells at the gate agent continuously for two and a half hours. There is a break when the agents try to appease us with free crackers and Pepsi, but then the crowd gets back into the yelling.
What did Alvin and I do during this time? Well we were in the front of the crowd. Not to participate, but we were using this opportunity for language practice. We learned things like, "So tell me, really what time are we for sure going to leave?" And things like "traffic control," "mechanical error," and "fog" (since there was supposed fog in Shanghai). And most importantly, "you must compensate us."
The other thing we did was make some friends. We became translators for some Canadians and then made a Chinese friend who helped supplement some of what we were missing.
In the end, we got to our destination safely, and also with 200 kuai (~$30) compensated for our wait time. We also learned a lot of language to use in arguments, and learned about the culture's limit on their patience with time.
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3 comments:
I love how you guys always made lemonade out of lemons--way to use your time well. You crack me up that you were at the front of the confrontation! I'm glad you made it to your destination safely and with a little extra cash ; )
You two are too funny...total "glass half full" people. Did Alvin & I come from the same genes?! Happy you were able to build your language skills and make new friends, and eventually make your flight.
Btw, I would like to learn more about the cultural need to push to the front of the line in bathrooms...that's related to "time," isn't it?
You got 200 kuai? I got NOTHING when I had to wait for like 12 hours going from HK to BJ. When the rowdy crowd was at the ticket counter the next morning, they called the cops! That was pretty cool, b/c the cops were kinda on our side (from what I gathered through some interpretation). Ha!
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