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Class of 2016
We sat in terminal 5, with our bottles of water and the snacks we had bought for the trip in hand, anticipating the sleeper train like children anticipating their first plane ride or roller coaster. With movies like North by Northwest and Harry Potter in mind, we entertained notions of glamorous sleeping cabins or a trolly lady selling chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans.
Once aboard, we discovered these movie sets were not exactly representative of the train in which we would be traveling. While the Z92 train from Shanghai to Xi'an was not quite as glamorous as Cary Grant's quarters aboard the train in North by Northwest, there may have been a bit of glamour in the complimentary slippers we got aboard the train. And while the young man and cart carrying noodles and soda was not quite as magical as the trolly lady aboard the Hogwarts Express toting chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's beans, there was a bit of magic in playing cards by the combined light of our reading lamps and phone flashlights. And there was fellowship as we crowded into one of the 6 by 8 foot cabins to share our stories and impressions of this new and exciting adventure we have been awaiting since our freshman year. And there was novelty in falling asleep to the sounds and steady motions of the train. And there was awe in watching the sun rise over the Chinese countryside from our window the next morning.
I would be remiss to say we were not happy to arrive in Xi'an, where clean and spacious hotel awaited us with promises of hot showers and air conditioning. However, getting there wasn't half bad and proves the old saying that sometimes the journey isn't all about the destination.
Mary Elizabeth Young, of Louisville, Ky., is a senior McConnell Scholar majoring in English and Spanish.