Chinese-speaking computers ... and the Blue Monster

(Ms. Arkin)

I have finally learned how to make this computer stop writing in Chinese characters. You probably know by now that my computer crashed and died. After about 48 hours of panic-stricken grief, full-blown crisis mode and being utterly consumed with trying to fix it, I gave up and accepted it. So now I am using a laptop from Hangzhou High School. It is a bit of a struggle because, although several people have switched it to English for me, it still has everything in Chinese. I have to rely on my basic knowledge of Microsoft to navigate which so far is working (thanks, Bill Gates).

It has gone from winter to summer without passing go. Today was 30 degrees Celsius which I believe translates to the high 80’s in Fahrenheit. Last week it was in the 30’s(Farenheit) and we were going to school bundled up in winter jackets and hats, barely able to feel our toes. When we went to Beijing, the weather was fabulously perfect. Everyone said it would be cold, but it was in the mid sixties with sunny blue skies. I think I might have had some influence on this. You see, the night before we left for Beijing, I went out and bought a new winter coat for the trip. Need I say more? I really like my coat though. It is purple and puffy and very warm and tumbly.

I am having trouble riding my bike. It is way too scary. I have reduced my bike riding to going back and forth to school (since the route is relatively simple). One day I took a ride to the grocery store around 6pm when the roads were really crowded. Bad idea. I didn’t even go into the store – I was too distraught. I turned around and went home, praying to avoid bloodshed and vowing never to ride the blue monster again. You see, in China there is a constant flow of bikes merging into the street from every direction. There are also cars bombing down these narrow, crowded streets with little to no patience for bicycles. The cars come up next to me, getting only a few inches from my body, and then accelerate in order to pass at full speed. I try to move to the right to make space for the cars on the left, but there never fails to be another biker buzzing by me on the right. How I have avoided an accident so far is beyond me. Also, while it is one thing to avoid being struck by an automobile or colliding with another bicycle, there are also a gazillion pedestrians that you have to dodge. And I haven’t even mentioned the electric scooters.

Speaking of bikes, as I was riding mine to school today, I was behind one of the many parents who use a bike to drop their child off at school. While in Dover, kids get strapped into the back seats of minivans and SUV’s, in China they hop on the backtrap of their parents bicycle (their legs hanging straight down – they don’t touch the ground yet) and go to school that way. Sometimes they read a book on the way.