April 15, 2001 (Day 39)

April 15, 2001 (Day 39): Cafe, ChinJif ferry 717: somewhere in the East China Sea – 10.45am

Happy Easter! The Chinese news broadcast today showed images of the Pope conducting Easter Sunday mass. That was our only indication of what day it is.

Health: OK. The ship is kind of light so it tends to bob a bit on the seas. Despite that, the ride is relatively smooth.

Morale:  good. A very easy day today.

Sitting in the café near the fore of the ship, drinking coffee and reading Kipling’s Kim on my Palm Pilot. Occasionally I become hypnotized watching the bow of the ship rise and fall with each successive wave while marveling at the unceasing parade of freighters that pass; some rather close by. A string and woodwind interpretation of “Greensleeves” is being piped in. The faint scent of sandalwood is an omnipresent reminder of China. A nearly cloudless sky permitted the sun to polish the lapis lazuli seas.

It is nice to be en route. The change of pace has appeal. There is nowhere we have to be and it is nearly impossible to get lost. The order of our day is structured by the eight-tone chimes announcing the availability of various facilities. Being onboard also means the big unknown of our trip is resolved. Ordering these tickets was reasonably simple; obtaining them was less than clear. One week from now, the gods of transportation willing, most of the difficult portions of this trip will be behind us – with the added benefit of not having to pack up our gear for almost three weeks.

While not elegant, this ship is clean and comfortable in a pre-fabricated sort of way. The floors are polished – and fun to go sliding across when no one is looking. The walls are free of scratch marks. Fresh hot water is delivered to our cabin twice a day and the same time they empty our wastebaskets. To pass the time, the crew is getting around to removing the Christmas decorations.

Breakfast was kind of tasty, but did not quite equal to the levels of last night’s dinner. It was watery rice porridge, half of a canned peach, two spring rolls, four very tasty sausage-filled dumplings, spicy vegetables and two halves of a hot dog that I could not bring myself to try. Washed down with strong coffee. Asian breakfast is still not Anna’s thing. She is craving scrambled eggs or, at the very least, French toast.

3pm – Café again

Watching Japanese islands emerge out of the mists of the horizon while Anna intently battles her Palm Pilot over a game of FreeCell between rounds with Dostoyevsky. From our perspective, I assure myself that I can make out the curvature of the earth. One island to the south of us seems to have a constant plume arising from its flattened cone. I cannot be certain that it is a volcano but we are certainly in the correct part of the world. The painting crew, clad in their blue coveralls, decides to take advantage of the weather to finish some leftover work.

The soothing music in the café has been replaced by a low-budget martial arts film.

It is either much smoother sailing than yesterday or I have adjusted to sea travel. I must consider myself fortunate. Roberto commented that a group recently on the voyage to China encountered rough seas, which made their voyage less than pleasant.

In addition to the omnipresent freighters and sea-birds diving into the waves in search of dinner, there is a low-flying plane – Coast Guard, I would guess – running some circuit ahead of us. They came in over our ship and now seem to be making a great circle some miles ahead of us.

5pm – Cabin

Went out onto the deck to enjoy the fresh air and saw some flying fish. At first, I thought they were birds flying close to the waves but when I got a better look, it was clear they were fish. Looking like silvery model planes, with a faint buzzing sound audible over the rumble of the ship, they shot out at a right angle to the ship traveling about 20 to 30 yards over the surface of the water before disappearing into the waves. I had always thought that “flying fish” was a misnomer – meaning the fish leapt in such a way as to appear to fly. While they do not have the lift that birds do, they appear to travel more parallel to the surface instead of in an arc. They are very cool to watch.

When I first noticed them, Anna had stepped inside. I was not going to mention anything until she saw them too, lest she thought I was hallucinating. Fortunately, she can now confirm my story – about the flying fish, that is. They kept us entertained for a while.

9pm – Cabin

Before dinner, crew members brought us customs forms for Japan and little fanny packs / bum bags. We are not sure what they say on them, but it was a nice gift. They tried to give us lighters first, but I convinced them we didn’t smoke. I think we got the better deal.

Anna’s main goal today was to finish Crime and Punishment. She was successful. She enjoyed it but admits it was not a quick read.

As we were curling up with our books and journals for the evening, we heard an announcement that dumplings were being served in the dining room. We weren’t particularly hungry but we thought it might be a party. It was a party of two for quite a while until others showed up. Either way, the dumplings were really good. They were filled with what looked like broccoli and served in a big bowl of chicken stock. Considering neither of us was hungry, we managed to finish about half of them.

Watched the Chinese news broadcast in English. Their top stories included

• Pan-Asian protest against a new Japanese textbook that ignores Japanese atrocities in Asia during the Second World War. The textbook, financed by groups on the political right, claims that Japan was drawn into World War Two acting in its defense, rather than as an aggressor. Scenes of protest in Korea accompanied the story. The Koreans take their protesting very seriously.
• Unrest in Cincinnati, due to racial profiling.
• The Chinese government released a White Paper claiming improvements in human rights. The percentage of those living below the poverty line has been reduced to eight percent. They additionally claim further success in confronting the “evil Falun Gong movement”, portrayed as a threat to public morality.
• In a similar note, there is a new investigation into the licensing of Internet cafés, citing the threat to public morality arising from their improper use. There is now a moratorium on the issuing of new licenses for these cafés and all those not following the new guidelines will be punished.
• In the “Better Late than Never” department, France is evacuating an area around Vimy. Seems they are finally getting around to destroying a depot of World War One-vintage munitions, including mustard gas shells.

Excerpts from Anna’s journal included

• ChasingFogg15
• China
• Travel