After we had all taken tests and performed the required formalities, we were given a bag of snacks and ramen noodles the first night and sent to the elevator in groups of two. Inside the elevator, an employee took it upon himself to show us how to use the key cards. As is self-explanatory for anyone who has stayed in a hotel before, you swipe the card then click your floor. He demonstrated this before taping again to cancel the floor selection. 

“OK, now you try,” he said. I swiped my card and tapped the button for the sixth floor.

When the doors closed, I told a fellow traveler that I would not them for the next two weeks. That lesson is not going to come in handy for us at all. 

Mitchell Blatt is a former editorial assistant at the National Interest, Chinese-English translator, and lead author of Panda Guides Hong Kong. He has been published in USA Today, The Daily Beast, The Korea Times, Silkwinds Magazine, and Areo Magazine, among other outlets. Follow him on Facebook at @MitchBlattWriter.

Image: Reuters