October 25 2023

Sunrise trains are really a pleasure every time. Although, it has been a different kind of pleasure each time.

The first and second trains I took to New York City in the summer of 2022 were 5:45am trains with pink clouds and clear blue sky. On the first train, I was a solo traveler whose heart was fluttering by the prospects of meeting the people I had been excited to meet for the whole summer, one of them was someone I’d loved and missed dearly. On the second train, I was with my beloved gang, not having expectation for any particular experience in the trip, apart from just being with them.

On the train today, I am alone again, comfortable and confident in my own companion. I also have no expectation for any particular experience apart from the visa interview. As I will head back home tonight, I am feeling more of a solo student/businesswoman vibe than a solo traveler. There was no pink clouds or blue sky, because the train started in a thick layer of fog. I would usually dislike it because my favorite sky palette is pink-blue and my favorite morning scene is sunrise — but that’s before this summer. Now, seeing fog is like meeting a friend who reminds me of a memorable summer of research.

Nevertheless, after a while, the fog dissipates, and the sunlight reaches through the branches of colorful foliage to touch my skin. That’s when this train feels different from the previous trains in another aspect: this is a train in the fall. The landscape is not in deep green anymore. It is now burgundy, bronze, and golden. There are also fluffy white flowers of the reed along many parts of the road. Sometimes I see the leaves falling and flying in the sunlight, above an empty railroad, and it feels more autumnal than ever.

I feel like I can only see many parts of these landscapes by going on a train. They seem detached from the typical neighborhoods that I can reach by normal roads. Sometimes they are like forests with multiple layers of canopy, bushes hiding where the ground is. Sometimes they are patches of reed with fluffy white flowers, green stalks and brown leaves, in the middle of bushes of green and red. Sometimes there is patches of water on the forest floor. Sometimes the trees suddenly clear to open up a wide plain of green meadow or a vast stretch of blue water — these are when I hear some exclamations of appreciation in the train car. I just keep looking out of the window until my eyes hurt a bit from the bright direct sunlight…