Biking in Wuhan

My first year in China I had a bike for about 2 weeks. Then... it was stolen. I decided not to buy another one because I was a little scared to bike in Wuhan. Then, last year I bought a bike... and I LOVE IT!

It's been a bit cold so there was about two weeks where I didn't bike anywhere. It's too hard to put all the layers on with the helmet (that's right, I'm safe) and fight the cold weather. However, this week was mild, so I hit the road again! Now, I'm confident.

Here are some tips to biking (or driving, really) in China.
1- No matter what, DON'T hit the person in front of you. This may seem obvious, but people, cars, and bikes swerve around quite randomly. So, it's your job to always pay attention and swerve with the traffic.
2- Use your bell! That's why you have it. Give a little dingaling to warn the walkers that you're coming. It might not always work, but at least you tried.
3- Keep focused. I realize that if I start day dreaming, I run into trouble (sometimes literally).
4- Realize that you may hit someone but it'll be ok. I have hit a few people since I started biking. People jump out from behind buses or around corners and you can't always stop in time. But it's ok, make sure they're ok, say sorry, and just keep going (unless it's major- which wouldn't really happen on a bike)
5- Have fun! Enjoy the thrill you get from biking in Wuhan.

I love my wheels. They give me freedom from crowded buses and traffic jams! Plus, they help me stay in shape :) Wanna come visit? You can give biking a shot as well.

Nobody ever asked me...

Tonight I had study. It was so much fun. I sat around as 7 friends learned about the amazing gift of Gr-ce. It was touching and though provoking. We were reading a section of the Book. We asked if anyone had a question. One guy asked what Gr-ce was. We easily translated it into Chinese. Then he asked what Jes-s means. This one had me thinking... Ok, now I know where this guy's level is at (it was his first time). I asked if any friends could explain who Jes-s was in Chinese. The new guy has very low English level. Of course, no one wanted to volunteer, so I had to call on someone. It was great to hear these friends explaining who he is and what he did. It was also pretty cool to understand a lot of it.

I ride my bike home with one of the friends. It's fun to chat with him on our 20 minute ride back. Today, I asked him about when he first started coming to study. Since I didn't know his history, but I know he is quite knowledgeable, I also asked him if he was washed. He said no. I asked, if he was interested in being washed. He said, "yes, I am interested, but no one has ever asked me before, so I haven't been able to learn more about it."

What!??? All we had to do was ask???? Well... I have a few more friends I think I should be asking. How silly we are. We often wait for them to come to us, but there are times when we just need to create an opportunity and ask them... who knows what they will say :o) So... G-d willing, another name will be written on the B-ptsm book in the coming weeks or months. :)

Tuesday of crazy week

Tuesday morning started off early again. I left my place around 9 (which is early for me) and headed out to a university. Some friends from ch-ch work there and they wanted to throw a party for their son and show us around. I didn't realize until I was on the bus that this was the same university I was at just yesterday. Going to see the same flowers I just saw. :) all well, I'll enjoy the company. That I did!

Bill walking with Luther

David just didn't want to smile.

Phoebe and Jonathan with little Luther. (Jonathan is one of the Chinese leaders)

Here is all of our food.

There were about 20 people from Chu-ch that joined. Some Chinese, some American. We walked around by the flowers, took some pictures, and eventually made our way to an area for a picnic. The family provided a great meal for us to enjoy. Pizza, noodles, fruit salad, chips, bread, and some other snacks that are hard to describe. They also had soda, water, and beer (which was very similar to the water) to drink.

 

Picnic Lunch

The weather was amazing and the fellowship was great. The movement was slow. :) We didn't see much for being there for over 4 hours. That's what it's like moving 20 people around.

Afterwards I went home and chilled for about 30 minutes, realized it was way too nice outside to be inside, so I took my bike for a ride. I went towards the lake, seemed like a lot of people had the same idea. Since it's the holiday, many people were off of work. I ended up flowing the flow of traffic to Meiyuan 梅园 (Plum Garden) and Moshan 莫山 (Mo Mountain). People everywhere!!! Then, recognizing the bus stop names, I realized this is where I was going tomorrow. Oh no! we will be fighting the crowds. Must be a good place if so many people are here!

The lake I found

The people I found

The night ended with a relaxing dinner with a few friends and a movie with Nicole. The next day was also expected to be full of activities.

Bike ride with Jess, Jess, Julie, and Dan

You know what it's like when you are on vacation... You love it, you love not going to work, for teachers, not planning lessons, or facing the people you don't enjoy seeing. BUT, by the end of a vacation you are so tired that going back to work seems like it would be easier. That's how I feel about the past 3 days. I've loved them, but I'm tired! :) This might become a long post, but I have pictures to include too! Here it goes...

Long bike ride across town.

Monday: We moved our Sunday to Monday (since we worked on Sunday this week) so we had our normal "Sunday meeting" with the foreigners and then with the Chinese. I left after the English study to meet a friend for a bike ride. Julie and I rode our bikes for about 1 hour to meet our friends.

We ate lunch, had a rest, then rode our bikes to the Agriculture University. This University has many flowers to look at. We parked our bikes and walked around.

Jess, Dan, Julie, Jess

 Our friends didn't know exactly where we were going, so we got a little lost. That's ok, we found the "Student Center" It was equipped with a Karaoke room, game room, kitchen, bathrooms, and hang out areas. I'm sure it's not a real student center (you'll see what I mean from the pictures) but it could be. :)

"Student Center"

more of the student center

Student center bathrooms. NEVER complain about dirty bathrooms again! :)

Trying to find the yellow flowers, we are confused what these are.

Rape flowers

Julie, boy Jess, Dan, girl Jess

Stopped for an ice cream break. Julie and I had chocolate, Jess and Dan had pea flavored.

After exploring this university, we headed back to our friend's University. However, since we still had an hour bike ride home, Julie and I left and went back. We took a pit stop at my school and I showed Julie around.

One of my students was still on campus, so she showed us her dorm room and accompanied us to supper. On our way, I passed a hair salon.... Julie, wanna get a haircut with me??? SURE! My student translated for our beautification process. My guy loved it. He asked me lots of questions (of course, most had to be translated) Questions about the NBA, Chinese food, and how are Chinese people and Americans different-that was a tough one.

After our hair cut we jumped on our bikes back, then Nicole and I jumped on a bus and I went back to the same area as this morning to play games. Finally, I was home and in bed around 12:00. Fun, busy, exciting day. Day 2 was just as busy, but I'll tell you about that one later.