The Joy of Public Transportation

This year overall in many aspects has been a very humbling experience. I’ve definitely learned that I don’t need all the things I’m blessed that I have. One thing that we couldn’t have done without is the public transportation system. Shenzhen has thousands of buses, a metro line that is still being built, and of course taxi’s. Out in our neck of the woods, buses are really the only practical way for us to get anywhere. So of course we have had many stories with running to catch the bus or broken English conversations with locals or the fact that 8 out of 10 times I get on the bus I fall asleep…the list goes on…but right now 2 recent incidents stick out as memorable.
1. I had been shopping a few weeks ago and after a fun packed girl’s day I was on my way home. Jordan had enjoyed having the afternoon to himself. I was headed home at a relatively busy hour just minding my own business. There’s this one stop “Dongmen”-in the shopping district- where traffic is always bad, half the bus usually gets off, and about as many get on- I always dread this stop. All of the sudden I hear this really loud whistle and I begin looking around to see what was going on. About that time, the bus begins filling up with about 20+ teenagers on ROLLERBLADES…I kid you not…they skate onto the bus and roll around grab a couple of seats, but mostly their just chillin’/rolling on the bus trying to stand still. I hear them say where they’re going and of course they’re getting off at my stop...from that stop we had about another 25 minute bus ride and as we got closer to the stop, I started making my way through the crowd to avoid being rolled over at the stop. I couldn’t believe that I was actually witnessing this…it seems like there are some things that only happen in China…
2. The next story happened about a week after the rollerblading encounter. This year I’ve learned a lot about Jordan and he’s definitely learned a lot about me one of those things being how inobservant and hard of hearing I can be and I’ve learned what a good sense of direction he has. Jordan and I were on our way home one night and the bus was fairly crowded. We managed to both get a seat (next to each other at that) which is quite a feat! So we’re on the bus probably have at least 30 minutes before getting home and Jordan starts laughing. The bus is loud and there are a lot of people on it so I’m thinking he’s got to be laughing at something he just saw. He tells me to look at the lady directly across from us and see if I notice anything. So I look at the lady, don’t notice anything (surprise!) except her head is down and she looks like she’s going to get sick (normal for China) At this point Jordan’s like, “C’mon you’ve got to notice it. That lady’s humming (making noise- not humming a tune or anything) to keep her distracted from getting sick.” **Side note: the Chinese are TERRIBLE when it comes to motion sickness. They even have little baggies on every bus for those just in case moments.** So of course I try listening to her and I’m pretty convinced that it’s not her, the bus. Jordan ignores my stubbornness and lets me think what I want, but the humming continues…So we’re about 3 stops away from our stop and we catch a red light. The determining factor that it really was the lady, was when the bus driver puts the bus in park, gets off the bus to figure out where the noise is coming from…even HE thought it was the bus…gets back on, walks around, tries adjusting a few things, and the humming continues. At this point everyone on the bus is looking around, and slowly everyone begins to notice what Jordan heard all along- it was the lady…