It's been almosttwo years since I arrived in this city . In the US the temperature was in Fahrenheit, here it's Celsius; clothes are bought based on cm not inches; food is bought in kilos, not pounds
Six millionpeople (-instead of 7,00 in Taos, NM) although it only seems like that on Saturday when everyone takes the bus to "xinjiekou " -(downtown)to shop. Eventhough the bus is packed and the door can hardly close, more people still try to push to get on. And the busdrivers-especially during the lunch break(12-2pm) seem to be ina race to get to the end of the line, jamming on their brakes with onlya cm separating the bus ahead of us.
Now it feels as much like home as anywhere I 've livedin the US-MN, Tx, NM. I've become accustomed to the traffic-feeling like one of the "masses". But, I don't think I can ever fall asleep on the bus like the Chinese do. There is a web site that has more than 700 photos of Chinese people sleeping!
I've become accustomed to my spacious apt four flights up(no elevator)-but, only five minutes to theclassrooms where I teach.