I’m enjoying China so far, but there’s two things that irritate me.
1. The knowledge I will probably see a vehicular fatality while I’m here. It’s inevitable. The way people drive here is terrifying. There’s a hierarchy that goes like this: whoever can smash you wins. Therefore, semi-truck > bus > car > motorcycle > bicycle > human. Obviously, this hierarchy is valid in any country you go to–but in other countries people TEND to slow down, or brake, and gasp give pedestrians the right of way. This is the only country I have ever been in where I have been warned multiple times that the vehicles here will NOT slow down nor stop for anything below them on the hierarchy. Crossing the street is like playing Frogger where the penalty is death. Fun!
2. All the thousands of things that cause me to trip. Random rocks on the ground. Random holes in the middle of the road. And worse of all, doorways. Traditional Chinese homes have the doorway cut several inches from the ground, which I’m sure is very practical, however, I am not sure why modern homes and businesses still have a threshold a couple inches off the ground (nevermind that traditional homes have a foot high barrier) I have managed to trip over pretty much every threshold I’ve come across which is both humiliating and sometimes painful.
Anyways, we are here in Suzhou and the old town is very charming. The train ride here was uneventful, and once again I thanked the lucky stars that I can read/write in Chinese characters (thanks to my Japanese ability).
On arrival, Hugh and I attempted to take a bus to one of the gardens…but we had no idea how to use the bus or where the stops went, so we decided to have an adventure and get on whatever bus came next. While doing that, we randomly met a Texan and his Filipino wife who recently moved to Suzhou and they kindly taught us how to ride the buses and gave us recommendations for places to go.
Dinner? German food (one of my fave comfort foods). When in China….well, whatever.
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From Erik:
You like German food, huh. That the scariest part of my upcoming trip to Germany. My boyfriend swears it’s not all mustard (which I despise), so here’s hoping it’ll be better than I expect.
From Janelle:
It isn’t all mustard for sure. =D But it’d probably be nice if you liked mustard haha..
From America:
When I was in China, I saw a guy on a bike get hit by a van — and it was so surreal. Hardly anybody around me blinked at the scene. To the driver’s credit, he did immediately get out, check to see if the guy was okay, and then offered him a ride to the guy’s destination.
But yeah, it was a far different response from the freakin’ out I would have expected if the same scene occured in the States. :/