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The Boat to China
June 1986
Tuesday, May 27, 1986 / The Boat to China / 9:30 p.m.
Twice upon a time, not so long ago, there was a boy who wanted to see the world. And that same boy today wants to see the world even more than before.
I am now writing from my cabin in the Jian Zhen which departed from Kobe at 12 noon today. This ship is bound for Shanghai. I can’t believe it – I’m actually on “the boat to China”. Anyway, what the hell am I doing on a boat in the middle of the Yellow and East China Seas?
That’s a tough one to answer, but it goes back to probably 4th grade at Westlake Elementary when our class studied about Japan and its people and culture. I’m sure something stayed in my head because ever since that time I have thought of nothing else – JAPAN. My ideas of Japan gradually developed until I saw it firsthand when I was 16. What a great experience! The words from the books came alive in my head and I slowly became more and more attracted to the small yet powerful nation. It probably wasn’t until college that I began to play with all the ideas floating in my head. I started to study the language, history, economics, politics, arts and music of Japan and this gave me a wonderful new base – foothold to work from before continuing my studies. But, as in 4th grade it was only second-hand. Everything from the book or the professor’s mouth – and that wasn’t enough. About midway through my studies at Berkeley (Go Bears!), I decided that I would go to Japan after graduation and live, work and study for about two years before returning the U.S.A. for graduate school. But none of this answers my question, “What in the hell am I doing in the middle of the Yellow and East China Seas?”
Well, taking what I’ve just given you and what I’m about to tell you, perhaps you understand why I am where I am now. I have almost fulfilled my two year plan (shy by three months) so I had to leave Japan somehow and this is why I am where I am now. I had a wonderful morning breakfast with Jane Pearce at the Hilton in Tokyo the other day and I seemed to sum up my purpose for travel quite well. One, I find my filters are getting a bit dirty and I need to get out of Japan and look at it clearly from the outside. I can’t do that now while in the rate race life of the Yamanote Line – Tokyo. I needed to get off the circular line and look at it from the outside. I feel in order to really understand the Japanese better, I need to visit the people of other Asian countries in order to compare and contrast. To date, my ideas (first hand experiences) are molded around American and Japan and their wonderful alliance and several trips to Hong Kong. By visiting China, Tibet, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia I will have a much better feeling and understanding about not only Japan, but how Japan fits into the whole scheme – or doesn’t fit in at all. Time will tell. And I will have a better understanding of Asia in general. And that is why I am where I am now – on my way to Shanghai!
Next: Impressions on China
Wednesday, May 28, 1986 / East China Sea /8:00 p.m.
Well, today has been a rather pleasant day – slow and quiet. I had an interesting talk with my Chinese cabin mate Zheng and his friend. Zheng was born in China, but has been living and studying in Sweden for the past seven years. His studies focus on math – optimization (not one of my favorites) – and his friend has been at Kyoto University for 1˝ years studying vibration and he has four more years to go. Zheng speaks fluent English and Swedish and has a rather boyish look on his face. He was about 10 years old when the Cultural Revolution was in its full swing so his is probably in his late 20’s or early 30’s now, but he looks like he is about 19. We talked about numerous things and I asked him many questions about China and he was rather direct and honest with me. I find this to be true of most Chinese – so different from the Japanese. I asked him about the future of China and he seemed rather optimistic, but said that anything could happen. We discussed many of the problems that China is facing. One is scale! China is a vast country with approximately 60 ethnic groups and numerous dialects. He said that it is very difficult to plan social and economic systems for a country as vast and diverse as China. Efforts are now under way to improve the social and educational systems, but he said they don’t want a Soviet-type system, American system, or a European system. It goes back to the simple fact that there are no models available for this type of development and China must push for its own unique plan. Unfortunately, he said, Deng is very old now and no one knows what will happen after him. He said that the old are not so educated and they often question many of the ideas that come from the young Chinese who travel and study abroad. He said time will of course tell.
I also asked him about women in China and their role in society. He indicated that they are rather strong and have the same opportunities as men. They hold many positions in government and business. He also said that the women control the house and recently have been getting rather strict with the allowance money. I noticed that Japanese woman also controlled the money at home, but their position in society was that of a homemaker and not a bread winner. No chance to enter the upper ranks with the men, but of course Japanese society teaches its women to conform to this kind of subservient role so it can be easily understood. However, it is rather disturbing to see a woman who doesn’t want to conform to society’s role and she is immediately shut out. There are no options and this is a great loss for the women and men of Japan because they have so much to offer. I honestly feel that the women of Japan are much stronger than the men and this could be one of the reasons why the men do not allow women to enter the ranks – because they fear them and their strength. Change can be seen in this area and it looks good, but the change is so damn slow.
Individuality and the concept of creativity also came up in our conversation and it provided a unique contrast to Japan. As the world knows the Chinese are very individualistic and they know how to make a buck – Zheng is studying optimization and we know how that leads to profits. The group does not in any way control China as it does in Japan. I find this rather interesting because so much of Japan’s cultural heritage comes from China, but the unique sense of the individual did not cross the sea. In fact I find the Japanese actually frown upon the individual at all levels of society. Even their educational system promotes a group oriented look at the world and it does not promote creative expression which of course is the source of the individual. The educational system, which focuses on entrance examinations, is a system which produces a country of very well-educated people. There are a great many minds in Japan and in order for one to remove oneself from the mainstream one must break from the group and at the same time take great risk. If they succeed, they will have some trouble initially with credibility, but once established they will have entered a very unique class of people. But conversely, if one fails they are doomed because they cannot re-enter the group. They have removed themselves and they usually live an isolated life.
Back to China – what do I imagine it to be like? Well, Shanghai, my first stop, is a rather large and rundown city with many old European buildings in need of repair. I envision billions of bicycles and a lot of noise. The water will have a not so pleasant color and there will be a distinct odor about Shanghai. So far not so good, but these are only physical things and not so important. It is the people I am most concerned with and I see billions of them everywhere and they are rather curious about foreigners, but perhaps not so much as other cities that don’t attract so many foreign travelers. I see the people with smiling faces and the children in awe at the sight of such a large, awkward-looking tall person – me. This child’s eye of curiosity – what a gift to the world. Well these are just a few brief images that are in the back of my head and I’m sure I’ll find out tomorrow in vivid color and odor. Ciao!
Friday, May 30, 1986 / Shanghai
Well, I missed a day and I am extremely tired now so my log will be short – very short. Plus I have so much to say that it wouldn’t be fair to jot it down quickly. All I will say now is that China is absolutely fascinating!
Saturday, May 31, 1986 / Shanghai / 8:10 a.m.
Well, again it is a beautiful morning – not a cloud in the sky over Shanghai. As I noted last night, so much has happened since yesterday that I had no time to write it all down. To start with I found out that I could reserve a hotel room from the boat and since I didn’t want to worry about looking for a place I decided to make a reservation. As soon as I got off the boat, which took about one hour to go through all the formalities, a young Japanese-speaking Chinese man greeted me and whisked me away in their comfortable Japanese-made van. He spoke no English, so my Japanese helped me out considerably. We stopped at the Huashan Hotel, which I think is a Sheraton because they have the same mark, and exchanged money ($300). What I exchanged was equivalent to about 9 months salary for the average Chinese. After that I was shown my room and then off I was into the streets of Shanghai. The hotel room is rather large; two large rooms with four beds in each and there is a large bath, windows overlooking the street, high ceilings and hardwood floors. It is a rather quaint place, on the main street – Nanjing Road – but about 5 km. from the Bund. It is a bit of a walk, but I enjoy it. My first task was to reserve a seat on the train to Lanzhou, but it looks like I will get off early in Xian for a short time to make my reservations for Tibet. I found out yesterday that Xian is the best place to arrange my Tibetan plans. Well, I was sitting in the park along the Bund and the Huangpu River and was confronted by a middle-aged man who spoke excellent English. At first I was rather hesitant because after Japan I don’t want to be used as a toy for practicing English drills. But this man was very frank and told me many interesting things. His name is Chen Cheng Zhe and he is married and has two children; a son 10 years old and a daughter 6 years old. He works at a Medical College which teaches doctors for the coal mining industry. His wife is an English teacher, but he said he thinks his English is better than hers. He was in Shanghai for business and since he was finished with his work he had a lot of free time.
I have been wandering around the city all day and have decided that there really isn’t much to see here, except for the people. I will be leaving tomorrow for Suzhou which is supposed to be the “Venice of China”. It should be a nice two day trip, because Shanghai has been used up so I need the change.
But back to Chen – he told me about the social system here in China. He and his wife work for the government and they receive several benefits from the State. They have a housing allowance where they get an apartment for about 2.5 yuan per month. Their utilities total about 4 yuan per month. Chen said that his monthly salary at the college totaled 100 yuan and his wife makes 80 yuan. After paying for rent, utilities, food and pleasure expenses they are able to save about 40 yuan per month. To give you an idea of what things cost here, Chen said that a color TV runs about 1,000 yuan and about 250 yuan for black and white. New cars are completely out of the reach for the average Chinese. The list goes on with radios, Walkman, washers, dryers, etc. We really forget how damn lucky we are to have all the things that we have. Last night after I finished a 3-hour cruise on the Huangpu River, I decided to walk the 5 km. back to the hotel with Grace Jones going the whole way. I got the strangest feeling as I walked and all the Chinese stared at me with my Walkman on. I really began to think about how far we’ve come compared to the Chinese, but when I think about all the problems as a result of all the success, I think that the Chinese are rather happy and I hope they learn from the mistakes that we’ve made over the past few decades.
This morning I went to the People’s Exhibition Hall and there was a festival for the children – tomorrow is Children’s Day – and I had a field day taking pictures of all the young one’s. I told myself that about 80% of my pictures of China would be of the people and so far so good. We’ll see how the rest of the trip goes.
Sunday, June 1, 1986 / Suzhou
I rose rather early and as I requested a taxi was waiting for me at 6:00 a.m. Well a 1940’s-style baby blue sedan that looked like it came right out of a Hollywood picture. I boarded the 7:19 a.m. train to Suzhou and what a pleasant place. After the hustle and bustle of Shanghai, what a relief! The place is really like the “Venice of China” with all of its canals and white-washed buildings. I found a room in the Nan Lin Hotel (11 yuan). It is a triple, but there are only two of us – myself and a young European. I am really beginning to love the people here. I can’t believe how happy and nice they are – always going out of their way to help. Though the service may be a bit slow, it is all-around exceptional. Tonight I had dinner at the hotel restaurant and had a rather delicious meal – the food and service were great.
Today, just before I ate dinner, I was sitting in front of the hotel overlooking one of the canals when along came an elderly woman walking her grandson who was probably about 2 to 3 years old. When he saw me he just stopped in his tracks and looked me over from head to toe. When he reached my face he saw that I was smiling and he gave me the biggest smile ever. Then after smiling he waved to me and boy did I wave back. All of this was done as his grandmother was watching and she herself was smiling at the whole event. But what was so funny was that after about every three minutes he would turn around and wave to me again and again. He just made my day and if I have small events like that everyday, well what more could anyone ask for. Here’s to Suzhou! Tomorrow I will visit the lingering gardens and Hushan on the hilltop. I will also return to Shanghai Station to board the long 41 hour trek to Lanzhou – hard sleeper!
Friday, June 6, 1986 / Lanzhou
Well five days have passed by and I haven’t written a thing. Well I made the 41 hour trek without any major difficulties and arrived in Lanzhou on schedule. I ran into a Japanese girl – Ikeda Hiromi – who was on the same boat from Kobe and her bunk was below mine on the train. We talked a bit and she is planning to take a similar course to Urumchi. We both checked into the Lanzhou Hotel which is about a 15 minute walk from the main station. They have nice beds in a dorm room for 7 yuan so I decided to spend three nights here taking it easy and catching up on everything before the trek into the frontier. On Wednesday evening, when I was starving to death, I went to the hotel restaurant at about 7:00 p.m. expecting to feast, but to my surprise they said “no more” and told me to go elsewhere. I was rather shocked and decided to try the hotel next door where I met Mike and Diana, who are both from New Zealand. We decided to have dinner together and it was rather nice. Mike Langford is a professional photographer living and working in Sydney and Diana is his partner and she is from Auckland. We talked at great length about many things, but we concentrated on the way to get to Binglingsi. Mike wanted to take photos and I certainly did too, but getting there is a problem. I first tried the CITS office, but no one was in so the next step was the front desk and I was told to go to the Victoria Hotel. We did just that and kept getting the same stories – “the water level is too low and there are no boats,” but we wouldn’t take NO for an answer. Finally, after pursuing a bit, the gal at the Victoria Hotel told us to get on the 8:00 a.m. bus to Yong Jing where the boats leave. Well, we boarded a terribly old bus with the masses at a cost of 1.80 yuan and rode for three hours through the countryside – complete with one breakdown. What an adventure! But when we got to the boat office they said we would have to charter the boat for 400 yuan and we that that it was a bit crazy. We were with some young Hong Kong Chinese and they were helping us out because they wanted to go also. However, we had one major problem. The last bus back to town left at 4:00 p.m., so that meant that we had to be back by in the late afternoon. But there was no possible way because the boat takes about six hours roundtrip and we didn’t leave until 12 noon. A problem! Well, our luck was with us and a busload of local Chinese tourists came along and they bargained and bargained and we ended up paying 27 yuan per person which included a chartered bus ride back to the hotel. Boy did we have a great day! The whole boat ride was absolutely spectacular. I took so many photos and I can’t wait to see them all. The Maitreya Buddha (85 feet high) was amazing, except so many of the smaller figures and caves have been destroyed or damaged. It is really sad! All in all it was a great excursion, but the local Chinese were a loud and rude bunch. They screamed, yelled, ran around and spit all the time. It is hard to get used to it all and to top it all off, they had this horrible music blasting out of the speakers of our very tacky boat. As we approached the famous temple, they played the song “Ali Baba” which spoiled the mood a bit.
The bus that we hired to take us back to Lanzhou had a crazy driver and he got us back to town in half the time, but at 9:15 p.m. it is hard to find food. In China, all the hotel restaurants have set hours so we ended up eating very spicy mutton kebobs, bread and orange soda from a local street hawker. It was rather tasty on an empty stomach, but my lips were fried to a crisp – the kebobs were extra, extra hot. After our curbside dinner, we bought some cold beer and headed up to Mike’s room to watch the World Cup Football match, but instead we watched a hilarious promotion for the latest tractor in China. We laughed for almost 30 minutes straight. The program showed all the neat things the vehicle could do and one scene was a ball rolling into the street and a man walks in front of the tractor – and of course the tractor stops on a dime and as the vehicle continues it leaves two very large skid marks and the camera pans at the marks for almost two minutes. It was almost like little kids when they buy a new bike and practice their skid marks out in the street. A good laugh for us all and that topped off the evening. However, when we looked more closely at the skid marks we realized that they were painted on the street! Another good laugh for us all.
Saturday, June 7, 1986 / Lanzhou Train Station / 1:00 p.m.
I just had to start writing because I am currently surrounded by about fifteen local Chinese and they are watching me write these words. A minute ago I let a young boy listen to my Walkman and he was so surprised when I offered it to him. But when he listened I don’t think he understood what was going on. I showed him the box and the tape and it was so foreign to him. He looks as if he is from one of China’s many minority groups in the northwest of China. I don’t know what is so fascinating about my writing, but they love to watch me write. I guess when you look at English as it is written it can be rather strange. For example, when you dot your “i”’s and cross your “t”’s. It can be funny if you have no idea what it is all about. We take so many things for granted and this is becoming clearer and clearer in my mind. We fail to truly realize how damn lucky we are to have the life that we have in the West. It is no wonder that the country folk of China sit in amazement as they stare at our shoes, clothes, watches, cameras, etc. All signs of a foreign world – a rather developed world that is, or is it really?
Monday, June 9, 1986 / On the train from Jiuquan to Turpan / 1:45 p.m.
Well, the desert is absolutely fantastic. This area of Gansu Province is so much like the deserts of southern California. On each side of the desert are high peaks covered with snow, reminiscent of the drive along Hwy 395 in eastern California. It is really a wonderful sight. I am again riding a steam powered train, but riding in the hard seat section with the masses, but it is rather nice. The car is not crowded and very clean. In fact I have my own small area with two seats and a table. It is the first time that I can actually sit in the train and write. It may be a bit messy, but it is rather nice to write while riding through the desert listening to Grace Jones’ La Vie en Rose. I must really be a freak to the Chinese because I am listening to my Walkman, using my credit card sized calculator, and writing. They carefully watch and stare at every move I make. I am so glad that I am used to being the new kid on the block wherever I go. Japan was a great testing ground, but it in no way compares with China. Well my train car is now completely filled with smoke from the engine. When the wind blows in just the right way, the thick smoke from the engine blows in and covers us all in black soot. Back to my previous thoughts about Japan being a testing ground – I find that because the Chinese have not been exposed to many foreigners for so long they just stare in amazement and curiosity. However, the Japanese, like MacArthur said, are a nation of twelve year olds. They run around screaming “gaijin” or foreigner at the sight of anyone non-Japanese. I can understand children shouting such things because they are just curious and full of wonder. But in Japan, even older people squeal “gaijin”. Perhaps one big difference between China and Japan is that China has so many minority groups – I believe over 60 – so they are exposed to many different people. Japan is a one people nation – Yamato. This is of course an asset in terms of their internal group thinking and behavior, but it is an obstacle when the Japanese try to open up to the world and understand “gaijin”. One very interesting thing just came to my mind about this topic. When I was in Shanghai there were two other Japanese men (about 60 and 45) staying in my room. We were talking about our day in Shanghai in Japanese and I couldn’t help but notice that the younger fellow kept referring all Caucasians as “gaijins”. What I am trying to point out is that this Japanese man was himself a “gaijin” being a foreigner in China, but he could not even conceive the concept of himself being a “gaijin”. I noticed, however, that the older gentleman did not make the same mistake. He referred to Caucasians as “hakujin” which translates as “white person” and this is more accurate. I found out later that the older gentleman has traveled throughout Asia several times so one could say that he is more internationally minded. Perhaps his language reflects some type of open mindedness.
Well, what did I do yesterday? I first checked into the Jiuquan Hotel which is a rather nice establishment with good service, rooms and food. A double room with bath is 21 yuan and the meals are 5 yuan. The food is truly exceptional and it just keeps coming out of the kitchen until there is no room left in your stomach. I ran into Hiromi again – in fact she is staying at the same hotel. She is on her way to Dunhuang while I am heading to Turpan before going to Dunhuang. I just bought a bottle of Xiaoxiangbin which tastes like a carbonated fruit juice, which is refreshing while riding through the middle of the desert. It must be well over 100 degrees now and Turpan is supposed to be even hotter. Back to what I did yesterday – I visited the famous fort at Jiayuguan. It is the last fort along the Great Wall. You can see the wall continuing through the desert – quite amazing! What made the day even more special was that while I strolled the grounds of the fort I listened to Kitaro’s “Silk Road” soundtrack and the mood was just right.
Jiayuguan, wedged between the snow capped Qilian Shan and the Mazong Shan, assumes an imposing and menacing stance that has won it the title of “The Impregnable Defile under the Sun.” It is China’s best preserved stronghold. Through this pass, caravans pushed ahead 2,000 years ago along the ancient Silk Road to central and west Asia and as far as Europe, transporting silk products from China and inaugurating trade and cultural exchanges between the east and the west. Toward the latter half of the 15th century, however, the Silk Road traffic underwent a gradual decline as the result of the advent of sea transportation. In the Ming (1368-1644AD) and Qing (1644-1911AD) dynasties, the fort was used by the ruling class as a toll-house to extort money from the people engaged in inland trade.
Thursday, June 12, 1986 / Turpan Oasis
My black pen has vanished, so this red one will have to do. Well, this trip to Turpan started on a hellish note. After my train arrived I walked out of the station looking to see if there was a bus to the city, but as I expected no bus to be found anywhere. So I tried to hitchhike but to no avail. On top of everything else, the desert was experiencing rain storms and I was drenched. I decided to return to the station and wait for the 5:00 p.m. bus. As I was waiting for the bus I saw a Hong Kong Chinese and an American walking up the same hill and we discovered that the bus station to Turpan was hidden in a small alley. After being really frustrated all day it was rather nice to see that my visit to Turpan was finally coming to reality. The bus took about one hour to cover the 18 miles and what a wonderful place. The hotel was rather Mediterranean in style with white-washed walls and grapevines growing everywhere. With 105 degree and a dry climate I felt like I was in Greece or Southern California. I shared a triple room with the two guys I met at the train station – Brent from Chicago and Kent from Hong Kong. The room was a reasonable 7 yuan per night. Meals were served much later since the sun did not set until about 11:30 p.m. We had a wonderful meal for 3.50 yuan and had loads of cheap warm beer to go along with it all. After dinner we expected some dancing and music by the local people, but it was not to be so we all sat around one of the tables under the grape vines and talked about everything under the sun. Actually this one French guy did all the talking and he was really full of shit – and lots of it. After a while we couldn’t believe what was true or false. I gave up at about 1:30 a.m. and expired. I had a very long and frustrating day. On June 11th a group of us – Brent, Kent, Mina, and three from Germany - went on a CITS tour of East Turpan. We toured the Flaming Mountains, Turpan Bizeklik which is a Buddhist cave complex, Gaoche City ruins and the Hastana Tombs. The tombs were somewhat of a letdown except the last two contained two corpses that were amazingly preserved. They had horrific faces and you could see the skin, teeth and nails. After the tour, which cost 15 yuan per person, we returned to the hotel for lunch. Perhaps the best lunch I have had in China to date. We all feasted and then did loads of laundry – the desert heat dries clothes magically in a matter of minutes. In the late afternoon, Brent, Henry and I took a local taxi to the old city ruins of Jiaohe which were spectacular. We climbed all throughout the ruins and it was a great day for photos. I can’t wait to see how they turn out. The city ruins are situated in a rather strategic location on a plateau that is surrounded by two rivers that feed the lush and green valley below. The contrast of the desolate mountains and the green river valley is breathtaking. It is a shame though that the Chinese government has tried to rebuild some of the old buildings and it looks absolutely terrible. They should preserve the ruins instead of rebuilding them. They have also built an observation tower in the middle and it is the biggest eyesore, but other than that it is a beautiful place and well worth the trip. Upon our return it was off to the hotel for dinner and after eating Mina and I walked out to the Turpan Cemetery which we caught with under a beautiful sunset at around 11:00 p.m. This burial site was for both Chinese and Moslems and when we walked around on of the crypts we saw a skull and bags of bones. Someone didn’t get a very good burial I guess. It was the first time I have ever seen actual human bones lying around above ground and out in the open. We returned to the hotel somewhat spooked and by the time we arrived I was really exhausted – I mean dead to the bone.
I rose the next morning at 9:30 a.m. and shot to the dining room to catch a quick breakfast and then went out to the Imin Ta which is a beautiful minaret built out in the fields and sitting peacefully under the warm sun. I walked around and took several photographs of the tranquil structure. The most interesting part of my morning was spent walking through the residential area of town and taking pictures of the kids at play. They were crawling everywhere and I got some wonderful shots. However, whenever you see a child they wave and say “good bye”. Someone must have given them some bad information or perhaps some joker in the past confused the hell out of them all by teaching greetings in reverse. Or perhaps they just want us to go away.
Saturday, June 14, 1986 / Dunhuang
I took the hard seat from Turpan to Liuyuan and as expected a bus was waiting to take us to town when we arrived. The road passed right through the desert and it was a bit bumpy due to a lot of construction work in progress. Upon arriving in Dunhuang, I walked to the hotel and noticed that this small city is rather dirty and dusty. It is hard to believe that over 150,000 foreign tourists have visited this town – mainly for the Mogao Grottoes. We checked into the Dunhuang Hotel(the smaller one for individual travelers) and a bed in a quad room was 13 yuan. The price is a bit high considering the hotel has nothing special to offer. And as usual, the service is rather poor. I don’t know if it is just the people of the desert region or what, but so many of them are so rude. The first thing on my agenda was to get a ticket to Golmud as soon as possible, which was a royal pain in the ass. I have come to the realization that some people are just plain stupid. You would expect that someone would have a rundown on all the schedules from Dunhuang, but not so. The first step was to ask the clerk at the desk of the Dunhuang Hotel. Well she indicated that buses left every other day and this is the same information we had, but we also knew that two bus companies existed in town. Apparently one left every four days and the other every two days. After we left the hotel we went to the bus ticket offices and after going around and around we finally discovered that there was a bus scheduled to depart on June 15 for only 13.90 yuan. This is a bargain considering the ride is over 12 hours! We decided to celebrate and headed straight for the guesthouse restaurant and chowed down on local cuisine. Well after such a delicious meal I was feeling rather sleepy and decided to return to my room. The other three Hong Kong Chinese sharing my room returned late at about midnight and I came to the realization that they were a very loud bunch. They sipped ramen noodles and ate melons like a bunch of starving pigs, but I was too tired to notice or be bothered. (to be continued...)
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