The Bus

For those of you who have traveled to China or a densely populated country (Japan or India or HK) know what public transportation can be like. A sea of people crammed together in such tight quarters that you think you're either getting pick pocketed as you inch your way up the stairs or escalator or you just got to second base with the 80 year old man behind you with no teeth or shirt.

I have been experimenting the past week and a half with how to efficiently get to and from work. I have left at 7:30 AM to get to the subway stop near my house (陕西南路)(15 mins walking distance), to take metro line 1 and interchange at People's Square (人民广场)to THEN get on line 8 to Siping (四平)to only then walk 10 minutes to catch the 910 or 55 bus to Wujiaochang (五角场), which then leaves me with a 10 minute walk to my office building. Ladies and gentlemen...this is the easiest commute for me to and from work! It takes a mere hour and 15 minutes. I have tried various other ways...only taking the bus (Bus 55 or 910 to switch to bus 26), which takes an hour and 30 minutes on average. I have stopped further on line 8 closer to my work, and then taken a cab to work. This option is the most convenient, but costs 6x as much as my 1st option (walking/ metro/ switch to another metro/ walking/ bus/ walking).

Despite the turmoil it may appear to cause to my daily routine, I don't mind it. I often get a seat on the bus and metro. I read my book on both, and all the areas are air conditioned....which is a BIG deal. haha Other than that, I am constantly stared at, but all you can do is just smile when people stare at you. My favorite part of the commute are all the ADORABLE kids I get to see! For instance, yesterday I saw a little boy (age 7 or 8) go to one exit door while his father was at the neighboring one. As the subway slowed down to a halt, the boy prepared for at least a minute and a half getting in a stance that looked like he was going to karate chop the door down. When the door finally opened, his father and him raced to the escalator, which the father let the little boy beat him to. It was extremely cute!

Anyways, today is the Chinese Valentine's day, and we'll see what is in store for my friends and I tonight.

More to come later! 再见!