no one had come to retrieve me from the airport. this could be bad news. i wandered in search of family members, or the drivers of family members' cars, but none could be found. something about me reveals unmistakeably that i am lost, whenever i do get lost. "if found, please contact..." i really should get one of those. I had just decided that my next course of action would be to make laps through both terminal 1 and terminal 2 of the international arrivals when a man came up to me and asked where i was trying to go. the conversation continued something like this:
"um... i'm not quite sure."
"is someone coming to pick you up?"
"uhh... hopefully?"
"you should call them."
"my cell phone doesn't work in china."
"then go make a phone call. the public telephones are over there. it only costs one dollar"
"i uhh... only have a hundred dollar bill."
at this time there was a pause in our conversation during which he sighed with sympathy, mild disapproval, and a hint of condescension, handed me over to a woman with a phone card who walked me over to the payphone, picked up the receiver and asked in a kind and maternal voice what phone number i was trying to reach.
"oh-- that's a problem. i don't have anyone's phone number on me."
and that's when i was intructed to return to terminal 2, where i originally de-boarded, and wait until my parents would be able to locate me.
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