Snow, Taxis, and Tutoring

The past week has been relatively uneventful with only some small things happening. There was a two day snow storm which was pretty cool. It was nice because I wasn't teaching those days so got to stay inside and keep warm. The funniest part was seeing the clean up after. Instead of using snow plows the Chinese take advantage of their huge abundance of manpower and actually shovel the streets and sidewalks. At first it didn't really hit me as that crazy, maybe I've been in China too long, but once you think about all the streets that required it then it's pretty hilarious.

Snow as seen from my window:

The roads were a little sketchy there before the clean-up. Surprisingly most of the drivers did actually slow down and didn't continue to barrel down the roads with no regard for speed limit. The sidewalks continue to be treacherous. I completely slipped over on the way to RT Mart, much to the amusement of staring locals. I'm sure they thought it was hilarious seeing this 'waiguoren' fall on her butt. I mean, I was laughing too. The sidewalks were already pretty dangerous due to their shoddy construction, but now you really need to pay attention. You can almost do a shuffle across the road sometimes because it's still so icy. You don't even need to pick your feet up, it's actually safer that way.

Sarah in the snow:

One annoying thing that has started to occur with the new snow is annoying taxi drivers. Twice now I have gotten into a taxi that has stopped to let other people in also. If they're going in the same direction the driver will stop and bring them along also. I guess it makes sense, but it can be quite annoying if you're in a rush. On my way to my first tutoring session I didn't realize getting a taxi in the snow would be so hard. I was running late and eventually a driver stopped and let me in, even though there was a woman already in there. First we went and dropped her off, then we headed to my destination, and picked up another person. I just don't understand. Of course, being a 'waiguoren' (foreigner) we always have the same conversation and every time a new person gets in the taxi they stare at me and ask me how much money I make (which is not considered a rude question here).  One driver tried to not use the meter and charge me 10 kuai (instead of the usual 7 kuai). His excuse, "because it's snowing." Needless to say, I did not take that taxi.

Snowmen everywhere!:

As I briefly mentioned, I started going to see a Chinese tutor that Robin uses. I am planning on going twice a week and each session is an hour. It's a little annoying that the tutors office is so far, you have to take a taxi. But it has been so nice to use my Chinese again! You just forget it if you don't use it. I've been using an old business textbook to do some studying but it's definitely not the same. 

Sarah and I went to walk in the park yesterday since my afternoon class was cancelled. We went around 3pm and the sun was already starting to set which is crazy! It gets dark so early here. The park looked beautiful in the snow. Somehow the branches seem to hold the snow for much longer here. The Chinese were still all out doing their exercise. As were the animals at the zoo, which was just depressing. They must be freezing! I hadn't really walked through it before but it was pretty sad.