Traffic Lines

Traffic lines are everywhere you look. Some are painted on, some are torched on, some sparkle with the addition of new paint, others are dingy and need some attention. Traffic lines for the most part instruct and guide us as we commute on the roadways. Something that always puts a smile on my face is the fact that in China, Traffic Lines are suggestions at best. As we pedaled our bikes to school this morning, we took our usual route, bypassing the main highway, and taking the overpass. The overpass is two lanes, but most drivers enjoy the middle, straddling the dotted line with wheels firmly planted in both lanes. We don't mind this one bit as we pedal along the side, because it allows for even more room as the cars whizz by, but it does provide some comedic relief when the straddler is not moving at the same speed as the cars behind would like. After some honking and perhaps flashing of lights, the straddler will move over, the cars will overtake him, upon which point the straddler will resume his position, in the middle of both lanes. Where it gets real dicey is when the straddler happens to be a full-size truck and trailer, barreling down the highway, straddling two lanes. I saw one such sight from the overpass today. The truck and trailer was humming along, with a few impatient drivers behind, waiting, wondering and finally speeding into action. The waiting and wondering that causes the drivers to hesitate is that passing a truck and trailer is always at your own risk. At times the doors of the trailer can fly open or the truck and trailer can decide to switch lanes at a given instant or more importantly when attempting to overtake him, you are unable to see what coming ahead, because of his dubious and precarious position straddling both lanes. But the drivers press on, truck and trailer are eventually overtaken, and traffic in China moves at its own blistering pace, with its own rythmn, and ultimately its own rules, all 'suggestions' taken into consideration. Perhaps the photo below sums up traffic in China best... notice the distinct white lines that are present.....
Mere Suggestions!!


(Courtesy of goodnewspic.com)

Its Friday....

...and this week I couldn't be more ready for it. Lots of changes coming up soon. Mid-term exams for the students, big events happening, changes in protocol for staff that make things quite interesting, new classes for term 2 within semester 1 and a LOAD of marking. But its Friday, oh heaven its Friday. Hopefully this weekend will hold some rest, some less stress and some lovely bike rides with my most fantastic husband. This is short for now since I have to jet to class, but one of the highlights of my week was that I finally earned my Chinese name, though earned really isn't the right word, most of the time you just ask someone to name you. So my friend Magic, who is from Tianjin, decided to name me Xin Yi. (Said "Shin Yee, with a rising tone on the end. It is a type of flower and a popular name in Taiwan, so I am a little more original here.) Ben and I have also had the privilege of naming some of our friends here. Our happy taxi driver in Chungdu, we named him Jake, because he reminded us of a friend we know back in Comox. Another we named Kate, something simple and sweet. And another we chose Emily. It is quite fun and interesting naming someone else, though I can't imagine how parents do it. Easy to name someone who can just change their name again in a week, harder to name someone who has to stick with it for a lifetime. Glad my parents chose well:)

On a road in TEDA

Phew, its been a while. Sorry all for the slight departure from posting. With moving, school, and everything else it seems the days have been quite full. Our VPN has also had troubles lately and we just got it fixed today. SO, here I am, sitting at school marking papers, wondering WHAT on earth I am doing pretending to teach and freezing my little bum off. It is cold here now, too cold. We jumped from summer to winter. One of our co-workers questioned "what happened to fall?" Thats what I wonder too, especially since fall is one of my FAVORITE seasons. The leaves, the air, the colors, the crisp shift in weather yet at the same time, the gentle easing into colder months. Here is it just cold. And to top it off, heating doesn't get turned on by the government until mid-November. So until then we only have little electric heaters and whatever warm clothes we can layer up in. I was chuckling today on our way to work (we took a taxi since yesterday it was pouring rain so we left our bikes at school, but a taxi to school is only a dollar fifty, though sometimes it is still difficult to even get a taxi since people just decide not to work sometimes in the rain and don't drive:) while I watched cars swerve all over the road. Really, lanes don't matter, people just drive wherever. Speed limits are also non-existent, people drive like turtles or race-car drivers, whatever suits their fancy. Another strange thing is that no matter what direction cars are driving, you can always guarantee that there will be at least one car driving the wrong direction. But here, its still right, just another way to get someplace. Orange stop lights, just like Thailand, mean speed up, and red means to start thinking, only thinking, about stopping. Traffic jams happen for no apparent reason, and they are a hoot! People honking and moving forwards mere inches into nowhere. Just before we got to China, there was actually a 9 day traffic jam outside of Beijing. People were literally sleeping in their cars and living on the freeway. What was the reason? People still aren't sure, but hey, it lasted 9 days so it must have been something....right? Anyways, thats just some of the chaos that ensues on a road in TEDA. Onto the rest of the day now, hoping all of you are well!
Peace!

5 moves in the last year.

We're getting really good at moving. Almost too good, which means we've moved too many times. Last night we took 3 different Taxi trips to take the bulk of our belongings over to our new place. It was fun watching the Taxi Drivers struggle to lift our well packed suitcases into their cars. Fortunately for them, we did take pity and told them if it was really heavy and they should avoid lifting it. The best part of moving was not having to walk up the stairs, but rather getting into the elevator (lift) and taking it up, up, up until at last we reached the 29th floor!! As we rode the elevator, we decided that if for some reason the elevators are out of service we will call in sick :) 29 floors is a LONG LONG LONG way to walk.

The house has a wonderful feel to it already, and as Christina rightly put it; "It feels like a HOME!" something that our other place, no matter what we attempted to do, could provide. The view from the 29th floor is breathtaking, for more reasons the one. The sheer height, if you are not prepared, can not only make you feel weak in the knees but lightheaded as well. On nights like the last, crystal clear, the panoramic view is something to behold. Lights as far as the eye can see, and even our very own Laser show from a few different buildings above and within the cityscape. We're quite positive that up on the 29th floor, no students will be able to come to class the next day proud that they had: "Watched Mr. and Mrs. F eat dinner in their house on the sixth floor last night!!" (true story).

Today we'll take over the last of the odds and ends, give the old place a clean, and then be off to the new place, where we'll take it from being a 'HOME' to 'OUR HOME' for the next while.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that the Turkey sandwiches on Tuesday at work will hit the spot....

Saturday

Saturday. Classes are in session. Enough said. The weather continues to get colder, but both Christina and I enjoy wearing sweaters so it is a nice fit. The "die" or "death" bike, inscribed with the number 4 is still around, and compared to mine it is a smooth riding machine. Interestingly, I was out a few weeks ago on my bike and inquired about some oil for my chain because it squeaks like a mouse caught in a trap. The mathematician in me knows that my peddling efficiency is way under the acceptable value, and so I asked for some chain oil to increase my peddling efficiency. The response was curious at best, "oil, why would you put on oil, its sooooo dirty here that it will only help for a day before attracting more dust/dirt and then you'd have a real mess on your hands." So I squeak on, but I'm wondering how much longer I can hack it, because Christina's bike peddles sooooooo much nicer than mine. Secretly, when I have to go run errands on my own, I take the '4' bike, because its an Aston Martin compared to my old beater Datsun (no offence Lenny Pop).

Tonight we go and see the apartment. We asked that it be cleaned, that some curtains be changed, that some furniture be removed and that the internet be ready to go. We'll go investigate and hopefully by mid next week we'll be all settled in, emailing, blogging and skyping with a new found gusto and letting you all know how very thankful we are for you; our families, friends and acquaintances on this Thanksgiving weekend and everyday;)

What are you all Thankful for??

It has been requested....

...that we post pictures of our living space. We have not moved into our new place yet, nor have I taken pictures of our old place, BUT here are a couple pictures that Ben took of our soon-to-be place when the real estate agent took him around to look. The curtains will be changed though, the flashy flowers are just a little too crazy for us:)

Chengdu for the holidays

Ben and I spent some time this past week in Chengdu, a place he spent two years living in and learning Chinese. Some of the people he shared this experience with, 7 years ago, are still living in Chengdu and we decided to pay them a visit for the holidays. We boarded our OK Air flight (not so sure the name reassures me in any way) last Wednesday and from there on it was a wonderful whirlwind of fun meeting and enjoying the company of many people. We traveled to quite a few places that our fair Tianjin is lacking in. Places that carry the stereotypical Chinese vibe. Lanterns, narrow roadways, small shops within old Chinese style city walls. Pointed rooftops and lots of old brick. It was quite nice to finally see the China I have looked for and unsuccessfully found in TEDA. There were other strange happenings we discovered in Chengdu as well. People don't seem quite as accustomed to seeing foreigners than they to in Tianjin. Lots more staring, picture taking and open curiosity was evident around us in every outing. For the most part though, we ate great food, chatted with great people and had a good amount of fun and relax time away from school and work. Below are a couple pictures of the kids, they were too amusing and cute to not become one of the many onlookers and picture takers wherever we went, and a few pictures of some other sights and people that we passed by as well.