Year 3…and we’re back.

It’s been a long time since I’ve done this. I’ve drafted many posts, but never followed through. The internet is a pain at times and I gave up. Today I begin again. My entries won’t always be long, but they will have content of my life in China and my travels in between. China has been good to me. I knew moving here would make me appreciate home while simultaneously making me appreciate things here. I didn’t anticipate, however, having this much love for this new culture I have adopted.

Yesterday I went to visit one of our school’s campuses for a meeting. I took the train. I was dreading this train ride because I had to travel 40 minutes to change lines at the WORST exchange ever – Xujiahui (shoe-zhah-way). Lots of people don’t mind Xujiahui, but I hate it because the transfer between line 11 (my line) and line 1 (at Xuhjiahui) is a 5-minute walk that seems never ending. One goes through a tunnel and a series of escalators coupled with bakeries (that don’t have anything of real value to me), banks, vending machines that squeeze fresh orange juice (at room temperature – so it’s not the best), and hoards of people looking down on their cellphones not paying attention to where they are going. So, 5 minutes is an eternity. I make it more stressful than it really is. That is, until yesterday.

I brought my Kindle with me and read from my station until Xujiahui. I’m currently reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. They both keep me entertained and help me lose track of time when time seems to be endless. As the train approached Xujiahui I packed my things and prepared myself for the mass exodus and elbow throwing that one either avoids or takes part in just to get off the train and through the sea of people who are rudely pushing their way on as everyone is trying to get off. I am still amazed by the hundreds of people who got off in 2-3 minute intervals. There are about 200 people who get off at that stop alone every 2-3 minutes. They run to the escalator and then there is a traffic jam at the escalator followed by the same traffic jam to get through the exit gate or to the next train. You think DC Metro traffic is awful. I think this takes the cake. Might even be worse than Japan and just as bad as Mumbai public trains. I’ve been on all 3 to be able to compare.

Once I switched to line 1 the journey was more pleasant. The story pretty much ends here also. Well, almost. The pictures below capture my 5 mile, 40-minute walk from the Minhang station to campus. It was my first time walking and the only reason I walked is because the distance looked much closer on the map. Luckily we had amazing weather on Oct. 31st.

During my walk, I approached a bridge and heard a lashing sound. It was constant and I heard voices. I decided to take the path leading to the sound for a short detour and saw a handful of older men and a woman with whips and large cylindrical spinning tops. I had never seen anything like this and was a little spellbound. The swag the older woman had when she whipped, skipped and sashayed while listening to music in the background was spectacular. She moved with confidence and pride, especially as a foreigner ogled.

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