Surviving the Ice City: Independence

I am ridiculously proud of myself. I rode a bus all by myself.

This is actually a big deal for me.

Okay, for those of you who may not know, I am not blessed with the innate sense of direction some people have. Seriously, I can travel around Haerbin several times with someone else, but if you ask me to find my way back to any one of those places by myself? Can’t do it.

For example. I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. Decent-sized city. I learned to drive there, I had my first couple of jobs there, I drove around a lot. When we went back to visit my parents this past summer, I had to go to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. I got onto the interstate, got off at the appropriate exit, and… I had no idea which way to turn. No clue. I gambled and ended up at the wrong end.

This is a place I frequented on a bi-weekly basis as a teen. I couldn’t find it on the first try.

Justin took one look at a map years ago and can navigate the city like a native, no matter how long it’s been since we’ve last been there.

You understand my point.

So, traveling in China -- take my general directional confusion, add all signs being in Chinese, having to take public transportation and thus memorize bus routes, and factor in not being able to ask the stranger standing next to me for help.

Yeah. I don’t go places by myself.

The first time I went anywhere (outside of our village, that is) by myself was the beginning of this semester. I took the boat across the river and walked to Wal-Mart. No directions needed, just walked along the river, which is thankfully very difficult to lose. So now I’m comfortable with the boat and walking to Wal-Mart. This is a huge accomplishment.

And then they went and finished the new bridge. Ordinarily, bridges don’t excite me, but let me put it to you this way: going on the old bridge meant getting on a bus crammed tighter than sardines (I kid you not) and riding about 45 minutes all the way around and down and over the bridge. The boat took about 20, so half the time the bus takes. It made good sense. The new bridge? 5 minutes. Amazing.

Unfortunately, this pretty much voids the one route I’m comfy with to go to Wal-Mart. Sigh. So, being a sometimes-logical person, I decided that I can’t waste time on the boat just because I’m scared to brave the bus system. I must spread my wings and jump out of the nest and hope that the ground isn’t as hard as it seems.

I got some advice from Rachel, who is one of those blessed creatures who can find her way around any city you plunk her down in, and headed off to the big city. Getting on the first bus across the river was no big deal – the stop is just across the street from our campus. Granted, I had to push and shove to physically get on the 54 bus, since it was jammed tight, but I got on. Five minutes later, I got off and had to find the 12 bus that goes down the correct street.

Mercy.

Sometimes waiting at a bus stop seems interminable, especially if you aren’t sure if you’re in the right place or if the bus you need really does still stop here and maybe you should just hop on a bus that you think maybe you’ve seen stop close to your destination. Luckily, just when I was starting to panic and would have jumped on the next bus that pulled up, just to go anywhere else, the 12 arrived. Yay.

Thing is, waiting on a bus is even worse, because it’s filled with what-if-I-miss-my-stop and this-doesn’t-look-familiar and holy-cow-I’m-going-to-get-lost-and-never-find-the-right-stop-and-end-up-riding-on-this-bus-for-all-eternity.

Gaaaahh.

And, as soon as we get down a couple of stops, I realize that I didn’t look for landmarks to get back to the bridge. I might miraculously find Wal-Mart but never find my way home again.

Double gaahhh.

I ride along for about ten minutes, and then I start to go beyond nervous and hit panic mode. Nothing looks familiar. Nothing. This is what I get for walking along the river instead of on the street. I will die on this bus, or get off in a bad part of town and be sold into slavery.

I pull out my cell phone to call for help. But wait, maybe I can just get off now and walk the rest of the way to make sure I don’t miss anything. No, what if the bus turns onto a different street? I don’t know the name of Wal-Mart’s street! Okay, maybe I should get off and walk to the river and follow it along. No, that won’t work, I have no idea which way the river is. Maybe I should call Rachel – no, she’s in class. Justin? No, he’s never taken this particular bus, though I’m sure with his miraculous navigational abilities, he could talk me there. Nah, he’d laugh at me. I decide to call Ryan, Rachel’s other half, who, although he lacks directional skills himself (sorry, it’s true), he has extensive travel time on this bus, so he can help me. But then I’ll look stupid because of course as soon as I dial his number I’ll see Wal-mart.

Yeah, I was in a frenzy.

I had just scrolled down to his name when I saw a familiar landmark. Praises! I do have an angel riding on this bus with me! I leap off the bus just in time and swagger (really, I was that proud) into Wal-Mart. I even call Justin to brag.

And I catch the bus back to the bridge. I barely see the stop in time, but I do, and I exit. And I cross the street like a China pro, stopping on the lines while cars whizz by me, not looking at the drivers while I wait for a clear crossing.

I am cool. Or so I think, anyway, at that particular moment.

And then I morph into a truly Chinese person and shove people out of my way to get on the 54 bus back over the bridge. Really, this is a big deal. People are vicious. Fights break out. There is no such thing as courtesy in a large crowd trying to get into a small space in China. You must be ruthless. It goes against my nature, but it’s the culture, and I’ve tried not pushing. You don’t push, you don’t get on the bus. End of story.

So, you see, all that to say that I am so very independent. Yes, I know, you’d think that I’d be super independent just by living halfway around the world from my home. But bus rides? WAY more intimidating than moving to China. Hands down.

Okay, grandparents keep going, uninterested parties are dismissed. Smile

Connor “helped” me make sugar cookies for the students we’re having over for games tomorrow night. Since it’s Halloween, we made pumpkins and decorated them and everything.

Connor help me eat flour first.