It has been raining in Changzhou for the past five days and I am starting to go a little crazy. On campus and downtown there is not the greatest drainage so I am constantly sloshing around in lakes of puddles or getting splashed by waves produced by cars or buses. To solve this I have been hanging out indoors reading, watching movies, Skyping with family and friends, lesson planning and grading papers. So far I have watched the movies "Shutter Island", "Sherlock Holmes", "Dark Knight", "The Break Up", and "Alice in Wonderland". Next up are "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "Where the Wild Things Are."

One of the more recent and fun purchases that Sean and I made was a new bicycle. We decided to go halfsies to see if we would use it enough to justify getting two. Plus, a normal way to transport two people on campus is for one person to pedal and for the other to ride on the back. Sean and I have been employing this method a lot lately and I have discovered that it is quite fun whizzing around sidesaddle on the back while Sean pedals. Our shared bike is pretty nice; it's a navy beauty with a bell and basket and its model name is the "City Human". As an added bonus, with the purchase of our bike we got a large, red raincoat that is especially made for biking. It clips to the basket to keep its contents and your knees dry. This raincoat has come in handy quite a bit, especially these last few days. During rainy days in Changzhou, everyone on bikes and mopeds are outfitted like Sean below:

We bike around campus a lot and have also begun riding downtown instead of taking a taxi or the bus. Ken started doing this last semester but I was a bit hesitant at first to follow his lead as traffic is crazy and seemed a little intimidating. When I decided to give it a try, Ken's advice was twofold: "be a sheep" (stay in the group with the rest of the bikes and mopeds) and "biking in Changhzou is like a giant game of chicken" (traffic rules don't really apply, who goes first is determined by the size and gumption of the vehicle). Needless to say, I hate the game of chicken and am always hesitant and unsure of when to go. This is not an effective attitude as a cyclist in a Chinese city and I am quickly learning to be more aggressive, extremely aware and confident. Even so, I still feel like I am in a crazy video game when I bike home dodging pedestrians in the bike lanes, errant taxis, unpredictable mopeds and the conditions that are common in Changzhou such as construction, pot holes and stray dogs and cats.


Biking downtown, though adventurous, saves time and is also more pleasant than being cooped up in a stuffy taxi or crammed in on a bus. It is cheaper too! One of the main concerns is where and how to lock your bike once you get there. Bikes are often stolen even when they are locked. Ken got his stolen a couple of weeks ago. Most people just put a lock on the back tire and don't lock it to anything - it is hard to find something available since there are so many bikes! So far so good - our bike is still holding up well and hasn't been stolen. Now we just need some nice weather so we can enjoy the ride!

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