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Published: August 8th 2006
It is hard to believe that I have been here for seven weeks, but as I was commuting to work today I took special notice of the many changes that have gone on around me in Beijing and within me and the rest of our group over this period of time. First of all, when Dave and I get in the taxi in the morning to go to the subway station, we are able to tell the taxi driver where to go. We no longer have to pull out a map and point! Then when we got to the subway station, we saw that they had further changed the entrance to the subway station, which they have been working on the past several weeks. So now with the changes, getting into the subway station in the morning is less like a bunch of little pigs climbing on top of each other, and more like a moving, snakey line at Cedar Point. Then once I got on the subway, I was able to listen to music, something I was at first unable to do because I was too worried about all of my surroundings, getting pushed, missing my stop, etc. The journey to work has actually become more of a relaxing part of my day rather than the stressful rush in the morning when I first started working here. As I am walking from the station to work, the last leg of my trek, I remember that the first time I walked down this sidewalk, the bricks were just being laid on the corner and now they are building another store front where they had widened the corner.
While I have enjoyed seeing the city grow in just seven weeks, and have learned to accept the culture a bit, I do not think this is a place I would like to live for very long. I could probably survive a year or two, but only with the knowledge that at the end of that time I would leave for sure. I do not think that distance from home has much to do with my feeling, as I really have not felt that disconnected from life back in the states, I just think that I have become too accustomed to certain western things, such as food, bathrooms, and manners.
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Carla
non-member comment
still be aware!
Be relaxed, but still be aware! That goes for where ever you are tho. I wouldn't fall asleep on the subway! There's lots of 8 year old wallet thieves all over the world! :-) Three more weeks to go and you'll have all the western potties you can handle!