2/17/2010 - Go Cart Fiasco

To get to the go-cart bar we had to split up again because there can be only four passengers in a taxi (no exceptioins). Michael (the original) had the directions and the name of the bar. With the first taxi we hailed, Michael showed the name and address to the driver who indicated that he knew the location and where to go. The girls then got in the cab. I was a little apprehensive about leaving the directions, but I didn’t want to leave Erin and Elena alone. Then boys were then supposed to grab a taxi and go to the same place. It was in this plan that I learned a lesson.

My taxi dropped us off on a dirt road outside a residential community. On the other side of the road was a construction zone. We waited for the boys to arrive for about twenty minutes, in the freezing cold. The boys never showed up. During this time we saw a taxi drive into the community with another person from our ship who I knew was going to the same bar but we still were waiting for the boys. After a little bit we gave up on them and decided to see if we could find the bar. We walked in and found nothing just apartments. We were close, but we did not have the name of the bar to ask where it was.

Bing cold and tired we decided to grab the next cab and go back to the ship. The next taxi to pull in had two guys in it, one of whom had glasses exactly like Michael (the second). We ran after the taxi thinking that these were our guys, to see two Chinese men get out. I was really confused for a second because I had been positive it was Michael and Michael. Hopes dashed, we asked the taxi to take us to the ship by producing our green sheet – Green sheets have all contact information for the ship in case of emergencies and the ships address in the language of the country we are in. – The driver looked at the address shook his head, raised his shoulders, raised his hands, handed the paper back and drove away. Figuring this driver just couldn’t read or something we hailed the next cab. This guy looked longer, shook his head, raised his shoulders,  said “sorry” and drove away. It was at this point we remembered an announcement on the ship that a typo had occurred on the green sheets for the address of the MV Explorer. They had made a blue slip with the correction, but in the excitement of being in China none of us had grabbed it. The next taxi we got was very nice, he began to shake his head when we pulled out our cameras and showed a picture of the MV Explorer. Then my camera came out and showed a picture of the ship docked in Shanghai from the observation deck of the Chrysler-like building. We pointed and pointed. The guy said ok and we got in. In a couple of minutes he pulled over and motioned for the paper and pulled out his phone. I pointed at the number for the ships reception and he called it. They did not speak Chinese so he handed the phone to me. I asked where the ship was, and after a little bit of rephrasing my need to have a Chinese name for where the ship was, they told me the street name. I repeated it, the driver nodded confidently and off we went.

Extremely nervous that we were going anywhere but the ship I was tense the whole car ride until we turned a corner and I recognized the COSCO  building, which was one or two blocks from the ship and next to the bank. I pointed and said COSCO after the driver turned around from a dead end. The driver nodded and we were delivered to road leading to the ship all in one piece.

* The boys were delivered somewhere else and waited about twenty minutes, then walked around looking for us. They however, continued their night and found the bar to enjoy beers and go carts without us. The other semester at sea student who was in the taxi we saw also found the bar. Oh well, at least someone had fun and I got a little story.
The lesson: If you have to split up into multiple taxis, get the taxis at the same time and make sure the drivers take you to the same spot. Also have the correct address of your home base on your person at all times.