The Adventures of Tai'an

I'm not one to catch Public Transport at home and I'm not one to catch them in China either. I do Taxi's or I walk.

Whenever you see a bus arrive at a stop there is a rush. It is normal for the bus to be already full, but everyone squeezes in to fit more in.

Recently I wanted Michael to show me where this supermarket was that he raves about. Michael is a long timer in Tai'an and he catches public transport. I go along for the ride. It's thursday afternoon and we have both finished class for today. We get on the School Bus. We get off the School Bus after a little bit and wait for a bus. We get on the No 4 Bus. We get off the No 4 Bus and get some lunch. We get back on a No 4 Bus and head to the shop. We arrive at the shop and I struggle to see what the attraction to this supermarket is. We go back and catch the number 4 bus and get off and the train station. We then catch the no 2 bus back to the school. Catching a Taxi would have been heaps easier and saved 2 hours of my life.

The ride is fascinating as the bus weaves its way through all sorts of traffic. Sometimes it's best just to look out the window and wonder how there are not more accidents.

The buses stop at every stop. They announce in Chinese and English the name of the bus stop. Why can't they just install bells!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that mornings are not my favourite time of the day. I prefer to sleep in the morning. Knowing I now have to catch a bus to the new campus is very daunting for me. I have visions of me running for the bus.

As it turns out the morning bus has not been an issue for me. I've always made it with plenty of time to spare. However my first day at the new campus the bus leaves at 12.05 homebound. I leave the class and head to the bus. I can be seen running for the bus. Fortunately some Chinese students hail the bus down and I get home. Otherwise it's a 30 Y trip.

Day two at the new campus my last class is at 3 pm. I have to catch the bus at 2.20 pm. Off I head to the bus stop as I get around the corner from the apartments I see the bus just about to pull out of the school. I start running again, however this time it is not only me but 2 other foreign teachers behind me. Fortunatley for us another foreign teacher was on the bus and told him to stop. It wasn't 2.20 yet. However we learn on route we need to stop for petrol. If only they told us we had to be on the bus earlier!

Just the other week, I had kept my class in, thinking I had given myself enough time to get to the bus before it took off. I get to the ground floor and walk out only to see the bus pulling out. I start to run down the middle of the square. There is a man on the side who sees me and he tries to flag down the bus. Meanwhile I've dropped my books. The next minute the man calls out to me. I start to run towards his car, it felt like I was in slow motion. I jump into his car. He speeds out the front gate not stopping for the security guards, he goes right with his hand on the horn and waving madly. He pulls up in front of the bus. The bus has two options either hit the car which in any case i will be split in two or stop. Fortunatley for all he stops. The man unlocks the door and say thank you and get on the bus. The Chinese all start to chatter. I guess they are saying stupid foreigner!

During this same week I had kept another class in. The played up that bad I was not letting them go until they had completed the work. I didn't care if that meant I was there until 10 PM. Eventually I got out and started walking down the square. Hoping I would find a taxi otherwise it was going to be a long walk. As I got half way down I noticed the bus pull out. I tried to wave him down thinking he was going back to the old campus. He just nodded his head so I started to run back to the bus stop. Unbeknowns to me there was a staff meeting so they had the buses running late to take all the teachers back to the old campus.