Walking up the stairs from the LuJiaZui stop of the Line 2 subway with the Pearl Tower beaconing at the top of the stairs
A few years ago, Andy started pointing out whenever a television program had a musical montage. Back when we were watching some of the seasons of the original CSI, every time the music would start during one of the lab scenes, he would sing some made up song about “muuusiiiical mooontage; muuuuusical montaaaaage.” So I guess it has been a tradition in our family to give special recognition to a musical montage. This past week, I created a bunch of my own musical montages.
With Rocky no longer driving us and the new line of the subway now open, we have been taking the subway to and from work most days. Our commute is now between an hour and 1:15 depending on how long we have to wait for the train. Unfortunately Andy and I are not often able to ride together because I have many meetings with Boise starting at 6am most mornings that I do from home and am not usually finished with the meetings when he leaves at 7:15 to catch the first train of the day. My new routine once I am finished with my meetings and ready to go to work is to put my iPod in a zippered part of my purse so only the headphones are in view and accessible. Then, I bundle up in my warm clothes, put the headphones in my ears and walk the 15 minutes to the subway station nearest to our house. The walk is actually pretty entertaining and here is where the musical montage part comes in. Like most iPods, I have thousands of songs so as I listen to it, random songs play as I walk down the sidewalk. Meanwhile, hundreds of other, mostly Chinese people, are also walking on the sidewalk, cars are honking, jack hammers are jack hammering, motorcycles are driving the wrong direction on the sidewalk, shop keepers are sweeping the entrance to the shop often so the dust is swept towards the passersby, children are running, people are waiting in line for their morning baozi (stuffed bun), vendors are selling their merchandise, shops are having product delivered and mothers are shepherding their <generally spoiled> only child to school. In short, the street is hopping and in my little world, not only is the music from my iPod muting the more annoying street sounds such as honking and jack hammering but it is also providing a musical montage for my walk. I cannot help but think that I could make a movie out of my 15-minute walk each day. It really is interesting and maybe I will try it. I have come to really look forward to this part of my commute.
Once I arrive at the subway station, I slide my transportation card over the reader and it beeps and I walk through the entrance. Next I quickly run downstairs to where the trains come through and then wait for the train. Since the subway line we take is new, the trains only come every 15 minutes so it can be a pretty long wait if you don’t time it right. It is difficult to time it right because there is no schedule posted as of yet since the government is in the process of trying to build more cars for a few of the lines since they underestimated the number of people who would ride them. Inevitably, every time I enter the train, it is relatively crowded. Luckily, I have learned that many people get off at the very next stop as it is a hub of sorts, so I can slide into a seat before a new group of people board the train at the same hub.
On the train I continue to listen to my music and then read at the same time. Last week I finished the book “River Town” which I highly recommend, read an interesting article in the NY Times about “The Moral Sense” and started “The Catcher in the Rye.” I can feel all of the people staring at me but I try and just ignore them. Occasionally, I will look at someone I can feel staring at me and they usually look away. Some of the people on the subway seem to be really interested when I fidget with things in my purse and what kinds of things I am carrying, etc. I think they are just curious. About half way through the ride, the subway leaves the subterranean and is above ground. It is a high enough vantage point that you can see all of the different kinds of dwellings, factories, offices and construction sites around the area. It is amazing to see the homes that some people are living in that appear to be partially destructed and definitely have no heat or AC (I think you definitely need both to get by here.) It is also incredible to view the smoke stacks in the middle of factories that are clearly polluting the city. Andy and I joke that it is like 50 sugar beat factories from back home. And from what I have heard the number of polluting smokestacks in Shanghai is nothing compared to other cities around China.
After the 35 or so minute train ride, I arrive at the station closest to work. When I get off of the train there, I head down the stairs to beat the rush of the people who are taking the escalator. I am usually ahead of them by the time I reach the bottom of the stairs so I can be one of the first people to swipe my subway card at the exit door which is a bottleneck of sorts. As I swipe my card, the four RMB (about 50 cents) is debited from my card. Next, I go down another flight of stairs (the subway station at work is above ground) where there are always a group of five or six motorcycles with drivers offering to give those leaving the subway station a ride for a fee. I always decline, being that I love the walk and would be scared to ride on the back of a motorcycle in China with someone I don’t know driving. Next, I walk 15 more minutes to the Starbucks just in front of the company. I finish my commute with a Tall Decaf Americano which costs approximately five times more than my commute and I invariably smile at the irony.
The subway ride on the way home from work is fairly similar but in reverse. We usually leave later than 6pm in order to avoid the 5 o’clock rush. Both Andy and I and especially Andy have had a lot going on at work lately and have worked pretty late to get things done. The one day I did leave early from work, I quickly learned that my subway skills are not savvy enough yet as I was not able to procure a seat while many others were able to. I still cannot get over a having a young Chinese man dive into a seat to beat me to it. I have to admit that I could not help purposely giving him a dirty look. He was oblivious to it and quickly started reading his newspaper.
All in all I think both Andy and I have surprisingly really enjoyed our new commute pattern. We both enjoy the fact that we are getting more exercise as part of our daily routine. If we take the subway both to and from work we get an hour of walking in which is great in a city that is difficult to exercise in. We also like the fact that when we arrive at work, we are alert and awake rather than groggy from a warm car ride where one or both of us would often fall asleep. Finally, we like both observing and being a part of the street scene in the morning and evening.
One thing I forgot to mention last week was my haircut. I got an amazing haircut last week. I felt like I was on one of those makeover shows with how talented the hair dresser was with his scissors. They effortlessly navigated my head knowing exactly what to do to create the hair style I had asked for. It is very seldom that one gets to witness someone who is incredibly skilled at their chosen profession or hobby so I find that when I do, I just watch in awe. This is probably a stretch but it reminds me of the movie Toy Story 2 when the toy repair man restores Woody to mint condition. I found that scene so touching for the thoughtful way in which the man performs a job that he is so skilled at.
Since I wrote a novel about the subway, I will not go into too much detail about the rest of the week. As I mentioned before Andy has been working late a lot as his project is at a critical stage right now. I stayed late with him a couple of times as well as it was nice to get a little caught up on some things at work. Last night we had some friends over for a wine and cake party. A week ago, I was discussing with Matt, a guy from the sailing club, about our favorite cakes. He is from England and so I had not tried many of the his favorites and vice versa. Out of the conversation we came up with the idea for the party. It was a lot of fun and we tried everything from poppy-seed (my favorite) to apple cake (from the Germans) to a lime cake that Matt brought to two other American favorites, chocolate cake and cupcakes. Tonight after Andy returned from a disappointing day of sailing, we met up at our neighborhood pizza joint which we really enjoy. After dinner we enjoyed a wonderful foot massage and are about to sit down and watch the latest Desperate Housewives to see how Wisteria Lane recovers from the hurricane.
The cold has been constant and now the rain has come to accompany it. I bought myself one of those long, black down coats that approximately 85% of the Chinese female population seem to have. It is not attractive but at this point I don’t care. Next weekend we will get out of the city and visit a city far north near Russia called Harbin. It is having its annual ice festival and I am very excited to see the amazing ice sculptures. I hope that the clothes we purchased for the trip yesterday will be warm enough as the temperatures dip down to 20 below zero, Centigrade. I just sent a text message to a friend who went this weekend and asked her if her clothes were warm enough. The first sentences of her response were, “Hey there. It was freaking freeeeezing!” We may have more shopping to do before we go…
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