Land of the Setting Sun
5/18/2007 - The Young Moon of Taipei Valley
“Hey, hey, hold on. Itaki makes a pretty good point. I mean no offense to you Captain, but I'm not sure we could afford your fee and still even make it back to St. Louis. We'd have, what, like two or three grand left? That's not gonna cut it, especially if Itaki isn't going to contribute."
"I agree with the boy, I'm pretty short-changed myself," says Ogasawara. "I'm here on the good graces of Itaki."
Captain Ganbaatar muttered something about a "waste of time", and turned back to retreat into his cabin, disappearing into its depths and kicking a bottle aside before slamming the door shut. Dr. Blythe looked pissed for the first time in our entire trip, and for the third time since I'd known him.
"Very well Itaki," he sputtered. "If you’re all in agreement, let’s see this capital ship Jai Li."
The Jai Li was indeed, one of the nicest ships in the entire yard, and its captain, a man by the name Li Qiang, seemed extremely professional and knowledgeable. At least, we assumed so, since Itaki had to translate his Chinese. Even though the negotiations had already been made, he gave us a full tour anyways, explaining the state-of-the-art functions of his ship. He confidently declared that the Jai Li could, at 19 knots per hour, make the trek to former Tokyo in five and a half days. At this, Itaki gave us all a massive shit-eating grin.
There were warning signs that even my untrained eye could spot, however. Going into the hold, we encountered a crew made up of late teens, with the older men around their early twenties, closer to my age. They awkwardly crowded around us as we maneuvers the hold, and were shown our quarters. Some of them looked like they’d never been on a ship before. Our quarters were nice and clean though, for a tugboat. Two sets of bunk beds, while we certainly would’ve had to make some floor space on the other ship. I volunteered to sleep with the rest of the crew, while Aubrey pointed at the floor. We all figured he’d be more comfortable sleeping there anyways. We settled in; we’d be setting sail tomorrow morning.
We spent the rest of our night at one of the taverns nearby with the rest of the crew, while Aubrey slept in the ship, and Captain Li Qiang chartered and planned the journey painstakingly in his quarters. The sailors taught Ogasawara an ancient Chinese seaman’s shanty, which he belted on repeat all night long, shaking the tavern. Dr. Blythe tried, but the pronunciation of some of the words eluded him, and one of the sailors that knew a little English informed him he had been singing about how his "penguin's in the galley”. Qara joined in shortly, singing with a shaky but clear voice, and bumped my arm gently in an encouraging way.
My Lotus lady, I’ll see no more,
Since I left her on the eastern shore,
We’re outward-bound, cook’s in the galley
Farewell young moon of the Taipei valley!
As they sung another verse, one of the sailors translated the song and explained to us that it was an altered version of an old Shanghai shanty, which was why Taipei was referred to as a valley. He smiled at us with matted black hair, shockingly green eyes, and sunburned skin. He couldn't have been older than seventeen.
My Blossom lady, I left long ago
That fateful day at the edge of Taibao
We've left the sound, we dare not dally,
Farewell young moon of the Taipei valley!
My dearest lady, I've lost my way
In the deep of Honeymoon Bay
We've got no ground, but we still rally
Farewell young moon of the Taipei valley.
The song ends for the final time on a sorrowful note, and the spirits of the men die out almost immediately. All at once I saw the pain in their faces, the people they've left behind and the homes they've abandoned. Even the boy who was translating for me choked up on the last few words. The night is decidedly over. Everyone trickles out of the tavern, sprawling themselves over the dusty streets of Taipei's shipping district, including our motley crew. Qara and I lifted Ogasawara, who was struggling to support himself in addition to bawling his eyes out, and carried him all the way back to the Jai Li, where he sank into his bunk. I took my place among the crew, finding a comfortable spot amongst the strewn bodies. Wedged in the corner between a stack of rations and a barrel of... something, my mind drifted into sleep.
“Hey, hey, hold on. Itaki makes a pretty good point. I mean no offense to you Captain, but I'm not sure we could afford your fee and still even make it back to St. Louis. We'd have, what, like two or three grand left? That's not gonna cut it, especially if Itaki isn't going to contribute."
"I agree with the boy, I'm pretty short-changed myself," says Ogasawara. "I'm here on the good graces of Itaki."
Captain Ganbaatar muttered something about a "waste of time", and turned back to retreat into his cabin, disappearing into its depths and kicking a bottle aside before slamming the door shut. Dr. Blythe looked pissed for the first time in our entire trip, and for the third time since I'd known him.
"Very well Itaki," he sputtered. "If you’re all in agreement, let’s see this capital ship Jai Li."
The Jai Li was indeed, one of the nicest ships in the entire yard, and its captain, a man by the name Li Qiang, seemed extremely professional and knowledgeable. At least, we assumed so, since Itaki had to translate his Chinese. Even though the negotiations had already been made, he gave us a full tour anyways, explaining the state-of-the-art functions of his ship. He confidently declared that the Jai Li could, at 19 knots per hour, make the trek to former Tokyo in five and a half days. At this, Itaki gave us all a massive shit-eating grin.
There were warning signs that even my untrained eye could spot, however. Going into the hold, we encountered a crew made up of late teens, with the older men around their early twenties, closer to my age. They awkwardly crowded around us as we maneuvers the hold, and were shown our quarters. Some of them looked like they’d never been on a ship before. Our quarters were nice and clean though, for a tugboat. Two sets of bunk beds, while we certainly would’ve had to make some floor space on the other ship. I volunteered to sleep with the rest of the crew, while Aubrey pointed at the floor. We all figured he’d be more comfortable sleeping there anyways. We settled in; we’d be setting sail tomorrow morning.
We spent the rest of our night at one of the taverns nearby with the rest of the crew, while Aubrey slept in the ship, and Captain Li Qiang chartered and planned the journey painstakingly in his quarters. The sailors taught Ogasawara an ancient Chinese seaman’s shanty, which he belted on repeat all night long, shaking the tavern. Dr. Blythe tried, but the pronunciation of some of the words eluded him, and one of the sailors that knew a little English informed him he had been singing about how his "penguin's in the galley”. Qara joined in shortly, singing with a shaky but clear voice, and bumped my arm gently in an encouraging way.
My Lotus lady, I’ll see no more,
Since I left her on the eastern shore,
We’re outward-bound, cook’s in the galley
Farewell young moon of the Taipei valley!
As they sung another verse, one of the sailors translated the song and explained to us that it was an altered version of an old Shanghai shanty, which was why Taipei was referred to as a valley. He smiled at us with matted black hair, shockingly green eyes, and sunburned skin. He couldn't have been older than seventeen.
My Blossom lady, I left long ago
That fateful day at the edge of Taibao
We've left the sound, we dare not dally,
Farewell young moon of the Taipei valley!
My dearest lady, I've lost my way
In the deep of Honeymoon Bay
We've got no ground, but we still rally
Farewell young moon of the Taipei valley.
The song ends for the final time on a sorrowful note, and the spirits of the men die out almost immediately. All at once I saw the pain in their faces, the people they've left behind and the homes they've abandoned. Even the boy who was translating for me choked up on the last few words. The night is decidedly over. Everyone trickles out of the tavern, sprawling themselves over the dusty streets of Taipei's shipping district, including our motley crew. Qara and I lifted Ogasawara, who was struggling to support himself in addition to bawling his eyes out, and carried him all the way back to the Jai Li, where he sank into his bunk. I took my place among the crew, finding a comfortable spot amongst the strewn bodies. Wedged in the corner between a stack of rations and a barrel of... something, my mind drifted into sleep.