A Day In Collin's Life

12.01.2008

I was inspired by Tracy's recent blog depicting some of the intricacies of daily life here in China. I'd actually been wanting to do something similar, as I felt I've really slacked on sharing my experiences here, which while not being so "crazy" any more, they're rife with wonderment, joy, humor, fulfillment, and WTF's?

So here's my attempt at giving you a peek into a day in the life of a Meiguoren Yingwen laoshi (American English teacher), 10 months later....


here is what our apartment corridor looks like, our apartment door is on down on the right...


this is the view from the corridor...the tall building in the distance is adjacent to the shopping mall I work in.




Here's a video of me riding from our apartment complex, down our street, and to the subway stop. I use this route when I need to take the subway, such as the mornings I have Mandarin lessons across town. I've been fighting a cold, so sorry about the coughing and throat-clearing in the video -- gross.


If I were to go straight instead of stopping at the subway, I would take Zhichun Lu (street) towards the West, then turn right onto Zhongguancun Street. Zhongguancun district is considered to be the Silicon Valley of China, as it is the IT, tech, electronics, and all things computers district.

Here is me headed down the Zhichun Lu towards Zhongguancun.


And as you might have noticed, I commute to work on the wrong side of the road, weaving through on-coming traffic, but if you've ever been to China before, you'd know that this is the norm. It is quite amazing at how desensitized I've became....riding my bike into oncoming traffic, holding a camera, and all the "close calls" (the "close call" phenomenon doesn't even exist here) through the hustle and bustle of Beijing doesn't even phase me anymore in the slightest. Keep in mind these videos are NOT shot during rush hour. The streets are quite tame here.

Lastly, my ride up Zhongguancun toward the shopping mall in which my center is located, ends with me at one of many bike-valet that surrond the area (and Beijing). This one is especially impressive with it's double-decker rack. I pay .50 yuan per day to park it here. There are approximately 9 million bicycles in Beijing!


here is my bike valet....


and here's my beast. it's completely natural to feel envious...




here is the area that I work in full of shopping malls and electronics stores....



And here's the mall that I work in...(yes, working inside a mall is awful and I don't want to talk about it)...


entering the shopping mall one finds a recreation of the Zhongguancun area...
a bird's eye view...
and after an escalator or two, you arrive at my center

and at the end of the day, this is what makes it all worth it, my wonderful students:
I hope to make more blogs such as this, as I feel it is the small things in my China-life that are the most profound part of this experience.