Adventure Life in Marseille (3)

Etranger
In Chinese, we have the same words of "In for a penny, in for a pound". So when I saw the seat besides him was empty, "Do you mind I sit next to you?" Maybe he still minded what I told him before about dogshit, "It was just kidding, for sure I have already cleaned my shoes." I hurriedly added. He smiled, and I looked his blue eyes so transparent which seemed that he could rumble me so easily. "Sit down please." He let me go to the inside seat.

I am always attracted by beautiful eyes and voice. Coincidentally, this guy has both of them. He was like sunshine dispersing my mist of bad luck. However, I am not good at in accosting. Even I was thinking how to start a conversation with him thousands of time, I did not dare. Sitting besides him and nothing happened, I took out the book and read it. Since very young I brought a book along with me everywhere. I would not feel bored when I was reading. But at that moment it was the way to let me calm down.

"You like reading. That is nice." The guy talked to me. "What are you reading?" I showed the cover to him. "The art of travel." He read it. "Is it a book about travel? ' "In fact it is not. I bought this book because I supposed it as a book about traveling. But it is about art. Now I almost finish it, and it turns out to tell us how to enjoy the life." "Sounds very interesting. Could you let me thumb?" "Of course...." I protracted "s" and then "Not, because you interrupt my reading." As I was saying this, I passed the book to him.

"So what are you going to do? It is early Sunday morning." I asked. "Not such early, it is already 9:10." Gosh, I can sleep all Sunday morning. He should be one of those legendary industrious men. I put my tongue out. "You do not think so?" He stoped to look over the book and turned his head to me. We talked to each other on the whole trip to Marseille. First we talked about the book and then it was like investigation. I knew that he comes from Poland and is a PhD student in physics. He had been in France 1 month and would stay here for 1 year. He worked in Marseille, but lived in Aix, because he shared an apartment with another Polish friend there.

To my surprise, it took no more than half an hour from Aix to Marseille. But all cities I lived before, after driving two hours, you may still in the same city. "Enchanté, A bientôt!" said him. "What is that?" I do not understand. "Nice to meet you, see you soon." He waved his hand and walked to the door. I was so disappointed to see his leaving. I blamed myself why I did not ask his help, which was indeed needed for a poor Chinese girl without friends and without any knowledge of French.

The same thing happened again as morning. I showed the address to passerby and asked the direction in English. But they either shacked heads or spoke something in French. I was definitely desperate. "Why do you have such a big luggage?" I heard an understandable language behind me and I knew it was that Polish guy. I did not give him any information about me, not because I did not want just because he never asked. "It is a long story. First thing you could do now is to help me find this place." I replied. "How careless I am! When you first speak English to me, I should notice something. By the way you do not understand French completely?" He felt a little bit embarrassed. "No, not at all." "Give me the address." After looking, he pulled my luggage. "It is cool to know three languages. Sometimes two is enough to survive." I talked as I followed him. "You know that, one day a father rat was bringing his little kid to search food on an apartment, and suddenly there was a cat coming after them. The father barked like a dog, so the cat ran away. He talked to his kid "now you know that learning a foreign language is so important to survive". However, what a pity for me to learn the third one."

Adventure Life in Marseille (2)

Getting Lost
It was local time 00:40. The last shuttle bus to Marseille had already left 40 minutes before. In fact it is out my control, since my flight was supposed arriving at 11:30. The plane was delayed at Amsterdam. I was standing in the arriving hall and staring the empty information service. I felt so helpless. I dragged my two big luggage cases to the exit. Finally I decided to give up. It is so late now and even when I arrived the residence there would not be reception.

I backed to the hall and sit on the bench. Because of the jet lag, I was not tired at all. I took out my PSP and started to play my favorite racing car. No more than 5 minutes, a man was moving towards me and asking "Are you waiting someone?" "No, I am waiting for the next shuttle bus to Marseille." "Next? It would be tomorrow morning. An half hour late, my friend's flight would arrive. I will drive to Marseille. I can give you a ride. It is my pleasure." "Thanks for your generous. I prefer stay here." My words was full of vigilance. The man insisted to give his cellphone number to me. Since then no people talked to me the whole night. I played PSP myself and let background sound effects maximum without earplug. It was not because of fear, but just made me less pitiful.

I was so concentrated in playing and did not noticed how time flied until I found a lot of people around me. Oh man, it was already 7:30 in the morning. The first bus was left on 5:30. I tried to stand up, but I can not. I got a splitting headache. Everything sucked! I can not believe this was the first day I arrive France.

I was surprised that there was only one passenger on the bus, and that was me. It was Sunday morning and not many cars on the road. The view was not attractive at all. My eyes was full of tears, but finally they did not fall. This was the life I choose.

A more unexpected thing happened when the driver told me it was terminal. I showed address to a passerby, and she looked very surprised and kept speaking to me in French. I shook my head to show my incomprehension. Another passerby came near and looked my address. He told me that I took wrong bus and arrived another city called "Aix-en-Provence". "What? Another city?" At that moment I was nearly crumbled. I checked my bus tickets which clearly showed from airport to Marseille. I was totally furious that how the driver brought me to another city. The man told me that maybe because I waited in the wrong stop at the airport. He helped me to carry my luggage cases to the bus stop. Fortunately it was quite close. Unfortunately even such close, I trod on dogshit.

I remembered the one plot of "Sex and City". The actress prepared her life in Paris sanguinely, but after she arrived everything was terrible. She walked along the street lonely and trod on dogshit. However, the same experience happened on me not in a series.

The bus was so narrow that I can not move easily to the back. Suddenly I felt that I stepped upon someone else's feet. "I am sorry." "It doesn't matter. It happens frequently in the bus." I heard a very charming voice speaking in English. "I felt sorry because just before I got on the bus, I trod on dogshit." I smiled and said. It was the first time I felt a little bit relax in this unfamiliar country.

Adventure Life in Marseille (1)

In the fridge, there are five eggs. The first spoke to the second :"Look at the fifth, she is terrible with her hair, how can she become like that?" The second spoke to the third:"Yeap, the fifth is really terrible, she has hair." The third spoke to the fourth :"Look, look, she has hair." The fifth heard, and she said:"Shut up, please, I am a Kiwi."

We do not know the following story whether this Kiwi get along well with those eggs or not. But one thing you know is that even in the nonhuman society, aliens always struggle to the others and lives for them are not easy. I am just an alien for this continent, like a lonely Kiwi around eggs.


Arriving
After waiting at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam for almost 5 hours, finally I boarded on the flight to Marseille. Fortunately the whole trip is no more than one and half hour. I never hate flight so much maybe due to the 12 hours cross Asia and Europa. It is 10:30 in the evening now, so it is 6:30 in the morning in China. I have never been to a place where there is time difference with China. I can not call my mum anytime I want since now, because it is necessary to calculate what time is in China. It is not such easy for me. you know, I am always confused by calculating.

"Bala bala bala bala balalalala...." the man besides me are trying to speak to me in a language I do not understand. But the tone sounds like he poses a question.
"I do not know."
"Sorry I did not ask you a question." the man changed into English.
"Oh, I do not know."

The man stares me curiously, and maybe he is thinking this Chinese girl is so stupid only using "I do not know" to reply. He stops trying to talk with me. It is a good news for me. I do not know what I can chat with him, you know, Chinese people are too conservative to talk with stranger freely.

I am introspecting the whole my 25 years life during the flight. Gosh, I am already 25. In China, majority of girls in my age either have already got married or would get married in no more than 2 years. However, look at me, I have never seriously thought about marriage. Since 18 years, I have left my hometown and never backed there. I like drifting. I do not know why. My mum is always worried about my future.

I clearly remeber that when I first left my hometown, I was so anxious and excited. In fact, it takes only one hour by flight from my hometown to the city of my university. After amazing 4 years, I moved to Beijing to start my first job. It was tough period of time. One and half year later, in order to escape complicate interpersonal relationship, I spend five months at Lugu lake in northern Yunnan province. Getting away from city is awesome. But I can not live in such way. I went to Hongkong to pursue my master. And now I am on the way to Marseille. I do not have any anxiety and excitement as the first time I left. I am used to drift now. But my friends said that drifting is only a form of escapism from the reality for me. I do not know whether they are correct or not. One thing for sure is true that I am the person who likes to say "I do not know." It is such a wonderful answer for almost every question, and the same time it is easy to reply and without responsibility. I do not know why people like to say they know a lot of things. Life is full of unknown, and I do not feel awkward when I say "I do not know."

Then, that's it, I, Miss "I do not know", land on the ground of Marseille.

Chinese - English - French - Chinese...complicate story!

I finished reading the novel which was written by a Chinese girl in English, named “the concise Chinese – English dictionary for lovers”. When I start to read it, I felt a little bit weird not just because she writes in very strange English but also ascribed to things she written in the book are not true. The more I read, the less such feeling I have. After all, it is a novel, it is about relationship and it is about living abroad. I can not demand more.

In this book, I found a lot of similar experience, like all the name of western people are so difficult to memory, the same as the name of street. When she wrote “I am bit confused whether if cinema make me less lonely or even more lonely”, I definitely have the same feeling when I went to the cinema alone. I am wondering whether because I am lonely I go to the cinema or because of the cinema I feel more lonely. But as my friends said, this is life and you would get used to all these kinds of things. It is true, after 5 months in this city, I am used to go to cinema, shopping and a lot other things myself. I lost resistance for these things. Maybe I can call them as the cost of mature or growing up.

This book also inspirs me to write something. Virtually, few weeks ago my friends here already named it “Ivy’s adventure in Marseille”. I was kidding to say “if I found my Mr right in this city, this story would be perfect with a happy ending”. In the novel, when the girl do not need dictionary to communicate, she left her lover and UK. One day, when I can write the story in French, maybe I can find my lover.

I am not sure I can really write all the things in English even in French, anyway I would try.

Where is The Cure

Few days before I went to the concert of “The Cure”. It was amazing, awesome and fantastic! In fact I can not find a suitable adjective to describe it, and language always presents its limitation. Smith (singer) is such a legendary people, and just stood before me no more than 5 meters. He looks so young and full of energy. But all of us know that, next year he would be 50. I singed loudly with them and scream for the encore. I almost cry when he is singing “it's not a case of aiming to please, you know you're always crying. It's just your part in the play for today”, but finally I did not let tears drop. In fact you know that I am not the girl few years before who can cry such easily.

They are the oldest band I have been to the concert. They became famous even I was not exist. I saw a lot of not young people in the concert, some of them alone, some of them with family and some of them with same age friends. I never have this kind of experience. When I was in Asia, generation gap seems quite broad. People much elder than me could not share the same things with young generation. But now I am in western, those first funs of “The Cure” are at the same age as Smith even more. In the concert they were singing, screaming and dancing. I was absolutely moved. I am always afraid of becoming old, but from their face experiences look so attractive.

I do not know when I was in their age I still have such energy. Whether I would go to one of my favorite bands’ concert, whether I would still support my favorite Real Madrid (yesterday they lost the chance to go to next round in Champion League), whether I would continue to travel along…?

I always believe everyone deserve their cure although maybe at present you are tortured. Do not let me wait to long to find my cure.