I woke up at 3:30 this morning. Of course I knew this would happen because I’ve done it before. There’s a lot that can be accomplished at this hour of the morning. (Not to mention lots and lots of games of solitaire on the computer–can you tell I don’t have internet in my apartment yet?) Lot’s of really good thinking happens this early. For example: topics for the new B study I’m starting with my Chinese friend this year. She and I are going to try to branch out in my neighborhood. I now live by myself in a community about 20-30 min away from where I was living last year. Our idea is to co-teach this study and make it bilingual for now. Hopefully it will be a way for me to improve my Chinese too! 🙂
That brings me to the next event of the day. Since I was up since 3:30, I had tons of time to get ready for my first Chinese class of the year!! I’ve decided that I have enough time to take a 90 min class each day. (We’ll see how long it lasts.) I went to the school yesterday to see what they had available and there was a class that started on Monday. I have only missed the first two lessons. The woman said that I can try the first class for free. After that it is 30元 per class. So cheap!
I decided to leave my apartment at 8:00 for my 9:00 class so that I could get there with plenty of time to spare. I walked out to the bus stop and checked the sign to find a bus that goes to that area. There are TONS of buses near my apartment and it’s a little jam-packed. The buses drive in the bike lane so the bikers kick the walkers off the sidewalk. I found the appropriate bus and proceeded to wait….and wait….and wait. 8:23 comes along and finally my bus shows up. It’s packed. I don’t even know why they try to pack more people on the bus. It’s a battle of the wills as the people getting on try to shove their way into the stairwell of the bus in hopes that the door won’t close on them. Being the lover-of-personal-space that I am, I decide that it’s not worth it to sit there and wait while someone gives in and gets off the bus…I was the “someone” that gave up. I said to myself, “I’ll just take a taxi. It’ll be faster anyway.” (since it is now almost 8:30 and it’s a 20min-ish drive there.) I begin walking in the direction of my destination, making frequent glances over my shoulder to check for available taxis. Clearly this is not a popular taxi part of town. I’m a mess because I’m sweating and wearing dress shoes while trying to walk quickly (with my computer on my back) all while checking for taxis. (did I mention that it’s humid here?) I made it to the subway at 8:42 (a 1.2 mile walk according to the pedometer that I’m wearing) I got on the subway and made it to a friends house at about 9:10. I’m enjoying the AC and internet. I probably would have gone to class late had the woman’s last words to me not been, “don’t be late tomorrow.” Ah, 中国，you never cease to amaze me.
Long story short: I missed my first Chinese class. I’ll try again on Monday.
In other, more pleasant news: I still have my bike. It has a super rusty chain and a spider took up residence in my right handle bar and decided it was a good place to lay her eggs. I hope I got the whole egg sac or I could be in for a lovely surprise some morning in the not-so-distant future. I only felt bad for about 3 seconds before I squashed her. So, now, I must leave you and get some oil on my bike chain so I don’t have to wait for buses and taxis anymore.
Until the next adventure…
