The Ride to Work

On Saturday morning I was happy to ride my bike to teach at the Korean family's home I go to twice a week. Usually there is dreadful traffic and multiple near crash experiences, along with the overabundance of nauseating puffs of black exhaust from all the buses, motorbikes and construction trucks along the way. Although, previously I mentioned how thrilling these short and long bike rides can be, sometimes they can also be completely exhausting and revolting. Anyhoo, this ride began lovely, I strolled along in no rush with the sun on my back and engulfed by blue skies. People smiled, the birds whistled and everyone had an extra pep in their step. Early on I happened upon an old Chinese man riding his bike that did not fit the stereotypical old Chinese guy on a bike, no trousers and sports jacket. This man was a straight Chinese cholo. He wore dark ray bans, warm up sweats and a big sweatshirt and rode a low rider bicycle. His face was hardened by a tough life and he had a slight devilish smirk resting on his lips. I couldn't get Ice Cube's song out of my head " I got my Locs on". For those of you (probably most of you since I don't think many of my friends my age read this) who don't know this song or even what the phrase means, just picture a stereotypical Mexican gangster, dark sunglasses, shaved head, baggy sweats and sweatshirt, fumanchu, lookin' gangsta (as Levy would say). This old man was riding a low rider rusty-ass bicycle all "loc'd" out. I giggled to myself for awhile, excited to tell Levy about my fellow bicycler and rode on.
It wasn't long before I turned the corner to see a little boy pooping, with grandma's encouragement, yes, squatting down and shitting, in the middle of the sidewalk right outside a fruit market, directly in front of a man selling fresh steamed buns out of big bamboo steamers. I think I was the only one fascinated, nobody else seemed to bat an eye. One block later, unable to avoid staring, I noticed a boy maybe 6 years old peeing off the sidewalk onto the road where bikes and scooters zoom by. THIS is normal here in China. They call it "potty training". Children too young to potty train just have pants with a big open split in the butt. They look so darling in their puffy padded pants to keep them warm and then they turn around and you catch a glimpse of their adorable baby tushy. It's all very cute until they squat wherever they are and begin peeing or on occasion pooping. When you see these pants, there's always a slight fear that something may just come squirting out at any given time. They start potty training early on here. My ride continued smoothly after that until I arrived at the house to teach some kids that chose to be unruly and uncooperative but adorable and affectionate all at the same time. Oi Vei!

Not long ago on this same trek but on a Wednesday night I came close to death when a bus swerved to avoid some bikers on the other side of the road and in doing so had me at a stand still pinned between the construction barriers and the side of the bus. I came out with no injuries to myself or my bike and didn't even have a chance to stop and worry about it. Then I came to an intersection where a girl on her scooter had been hit by a taxi driver. The scene was completely preserved, it was if it had just happened. She chose to stay on the ground under her overturned scooter with the taxi stationary, door swung open in the middle of the road, nobody helped or even offered to help her up. I later found out this is typical and it's best not to offer help or you can be implicated in the accident and have to pay money for the girl's injuries. Here I thought she was insane for not getting the hell out of a position that she could easily get further injured in, but apparently she was doing her best to make sure she'd get some money out of that taxi driver's pocket. Things are different everywhere you go, I tell ya.
Another time on this same ride I was stopped at an intersection when I saw a man riding his scooter with a dog, what looked like some kind of retriever, perched like the kids here often are, in the front of the scooter standing up, holding the handles in front of the driver. HAHA! Oh how I wish I had a picture of that one! A ways down the road I witnessed a guy jump on the back of a motorbike really quickly and rush off, swerving through traffic. I soon heard and saw a girl running down the street screaming after them. Soon there were bikes and scooters on the job, rushing after the culprits, but sadly to no avail, the girl's purse was gone. This was the only real crime I've witnessed here and hopefully it will remain the only one.
Every week I have a new tale from this ride to and from the family's house (even though they live in a nice area, the neighborhoods change every block). The next time I have a really interesting one, I'll be sure to keep you all posted.
xoxo Lolo in China