Chinese Proverb

Walk to the back of the bus and ALL eyes will follow. Walk anywhere, really, and all eyes will follow.

Magical Bus Tours Part 2: A Really Bad Sequel

The noise pollution is ridiculous. Honestly, the bus driver is a honking maniac.
Warning: Keep your arms and heads inside the vehicle at all times.
This ride is not for the arthritic-ridden.
Note to self: Learn how to say, "Put out your cigarette, dude" in Chinese.
Bus #6, teal and classy, swings by a bus-cleaning station, which is really a 4'x4' closet storing brooms, dustpans and empty trash bags on the side of the road. The cleaning lady does what she needs to do and three minutes later, we're off again.

Chinese Proverb

Buy spicy potatoes from a street vendor and you'll be running for the pot.

The Magical Bus Tours Part 1: Chinese Rollercoaster

We've taken it upon ourselves to ride every bus in Enshi to discover where they go. Bus #13, colored peach, veers off the beaten path and into a residential alleyway...except it's not an alley but an actual "road". As a techno remix of We Will Rock You plays over the speakers, the bus jerks and jolts us down a dirt/gravel/mountainous trail. Seriously, the bus was off-roading. It was quite a ride.

Chinese Proverb

Never judge a snack by it's English translation.

a walk in the dark

Phoenix park, I believe it is called, or maybe that was the only Chinese character we could read. A beautiful park in the middle of the city, with no lamps to light the way. By the light of the orange moon, we traipsed through dense wilderness, passing a broken-down, half-lit amusement park which sent people zooming around on rickety rides, a perfect setting for a low-budget film. After traveling uphill for quite a ways, we reached a break in the trees where one could view the lights of the city. Down on town's square music was blaring as hundreds of people danced the night away. As we continued on, I glanced at the night's sky ridden with sparkling stars. In the distance, fireworks began to explode in large numbers. It was a moment of pure ecstasy; my welcome to China. And in the magic of the moment, I could taste stardust.

Chinese Proverb

One load of laundry produces two wet floors.

the road less traveled

Our first night here, the three of us chose a road and began walking. It led us to the edge of town where man spends more time outdoors working the ground. It was a lovely place where mountain meets sky. We explored this world of farmers, peasants and children, with children as the most encouraging factor. They have no qualms of talking at you, laughing with you or sharing in the one aspect of body language that transcends all cultures: a smile.

Chinese Proverb

A dead cockroach is worth one shoeprint on the wall.

snot rockets

1. put index finger to nostril
2. plug by pushing inwards
3. blow towards street
4. repeat with other nostril

driving

It's supposedly on the right side, but in all actuality it's all over the road. The cars are everywhere, weaving and passing and honking and squeezing. It doesn't bother me so much. I like to think of it as a video game. Speaking of video games, you should see the pedestrians. Like Frogger, they cross the street while cars, buses and motorcycles zoom past and towards them. Jaywalking is a way of life.

on the front of jesca's journal

it's always life. it's always journey.
it's too hurry to save the trace,
if youth pass with a gale of spring wind,
i can't be reconciled to this,
so i will write down the years.

what a great chinglish explanation of the next 10 months of my life!
it's perfect. it's life. it's so china.