Bus 11

I love the bus. I know this isn't a common sentiment, but I truly enjoy public transportation. My bus is bus number 11. It's route starts and stops at the university, so it's easy to catch. And although it takes the longest way possible to the market, I still like it. I know the route. And I know Anshun completely relative to the bus 11 route. I know I could branch out and learn about the other buses, but I'm happy with bus 11. I also enjoy the culture of the bus. People know what to do and they do it. You can pretty much hail a bus anywhere on its route. If it's in a turning lane, it might not stop for you. You can also get off the bus pretty much anywhere on its route. You have to say "yo sha!" to get off. It took me about four months to get up the courage to actually yell that. Before that I would just walk to door and look at the kid and say in English "can I get off?" while pointing at the door. The charades worked. But it's also nice to say the right thing.

On the buses in Anshun there is a driver and a teenager (usually) who opens the door and collects money. It costs 1 kuai to ride the bus. When you ride the bus in Guiyang (the capital) you have to put the money in a box when you get on the bus. I find it to be very stressful. I prefer being able to sit down and give my money to the door person. They will also give you change if you need it.

People of all ages ride the bus. When an old person gets on the people sitting near the front will give up their seat for the old person. It's really sweet. Babies ride for free, and little kids only pay 5 mao (half a kuai). Kids ride the town bus to and from school. There are no school buses. And they ride home for lunch. If you go to town around noon the bus is overrun with little kids. Some people avoid it, but I like it. :)

The most fun thing about the bus is that people use it to transport goods. They have to pay a little extra (I think). They put whatever it is they are bringing in the front of the bus and sit in the back like everyone else. It's funny when the lady riding next to you yells "yo sha!" and then gets up and grabs two baskets of live chickens from the front of the bus before getting off. Once I saw some people transport large amounts of PVC pipe on the bus. They put the pipes down the middle of the bus between the seats. Everyone had to walk on and around it to get on the bus. It took four or five minutes to load.

The stops, and the PVC pipes, and the little kids and the smoking drive some people crazy. But I just relax when I get on the bus, and enjoy the view.

Happy "small" Moments

I had my first *real* telephone conversation today. (Chinese - English)

This is usually what happens
PHONE
PHONE: Ring, ring
ME: grrrr. I hate answering the phone
PHONE: Ring, ring
ME: Hello?
MAN: Wei? Ni Hao? - Hi? Hello?
ME: Hello?
MAN: blah blah blah blah blah
ME: Ting bu dong - I don't understand
MAN: blah blah blah blah blah (same thing, just slower)
ME: I don't speak Chinese
MAN: blah blah blah blah blah
ME: I'm sorry, I don't speak Chinese!
MAN: blah blah blah
ME: (hang up)

But today was better!
Here's what happened: (Chinese - English)

PHONE: Ring, ring
ME: grrrr. I hate answering the phone
PHONE: Ring, ring
ME: Hello?
MAN: Wei? Ni Hao? - Hi? Hello?
Me: Hello?
MAN: Blah, blah, blah Anshun Xue Yuan - something, something, something Anshun Teacher's College?
ME: Dui, Anshun Xue Yuan - Right, Anshun Teacher's College
ME: uhhhhhh, bu hui shuo zhongwen, wo shi waijo - uhhhhh, I don't speak Chinese, I am a foreign teacher
MAN: Ni shi waijo ma? - You are a foreign teacher?
ME: Dui - Yes
MAN: Duibuqi, xiexie - Sorry, thanks
ME: Xiexie, zaijian - Thanks, bye
MAN: Zaijian - Bye

Granted, my first real telephone conversation was just saying that I don't speak Chinese, but I still feel proud of myself! :)

Longgong Caves

I have attempted to write this blog entry for nearly two months now. I think I am trying to put too many photos in it, and the internet keeps kicking me off. So, it remains to be seen whether this attempt will be successful!

In mid-December I had a chance to visit the Longgong Caves. They are a local "scenic spot". The government called the school to see if the foreign teachers would visit the caves as a way of promoting it. They are trying to increase their rating from a "4A" to a "5A" standing. And apparently foreigners are a good endorsement.

I was less than thrilled by the prospect. First of all, it would take up my entire Saturday. Second, we had to meet at 7:20am. Yuck! But I am so glad that I went - it was great!

Kelsey, Sara and I went, along with two other English department faculty (Chinese nationals).

We went to breakfast first - noodles. I am still not used to eating noodle soup for breakfast, but it was yummy.

There were celebrations at the caves (promotions for this "5A" rating thing):

->local minority dances


dragon dancing<-





We also went on a boat ride through the caves. I must admit, I was expecting something cold and cramped. But the caves were enormous and beautiful! The boat ride was the most fun.

We were served a pretty good lunch. Because we were "special guests" we had special food. I don't generally appreciate the special food. Special means turtle soup with whole turtles in it, chicken livers and chicken feet and heads. I would prefer poor people food any day! This was good, though.

The day had some good examples of things that are typically Chinese:

-We were given a survey to fill out about our experience. The Chinese teacher who was interpreting said "they ask that you would please mark 'very satisfied' for each category". How's that for ensuring that the responses are accurate!!

-There was some mis-translation on the signs. Here is my favorite. Read the labels for the phone numbers!
:)

Electricity!

I took physics like 5 years ago, but I think I remember a little something about electricity. I think (don't quote me!) that if there is only a certain amount of electricity and more things are plugged into it, each thing gets less electricity. I think that in America there are regulators and stuff to prevent that, but here in China it's definitely true.

In the winter the electricity gets really low. My oven is not as hot, my light bulbs glow dimmer, my electric heater doesn't heat as well and my internet doesn't work as well. The internet doesn't quite make sense to me - isn't it about information, not electrons? Or maybe I'm just ignorant and I don't know how they can be connected.

Anyway, this winter the electricity was very, very low. I was downloading an episode of Lost from iTunes and it took 14 hours to download one episode.

Well, last week with the students being gone (fewer people using the same amount of electricity) and no one using heaters, it only took 35 minutes. Isn't that crazy!

My oven was much hotter this week, too. The students are back now, so the electricity isn't as great as it was, but it's still better than the winter.

I tell you, I'm learning so much by living here! And it isn't even things I was expecting to learn.

Electricity - who would have thunk it? :)