Riding the Bus

I have known for quite a while that buses are a good connection from where I work and live. However,   I was afraid to use them because I can't read the Chinese characters at the bus stops.  A week ago Tuesday, I took one of my students to the bus stop and told him to tell me how many stops I should ride to get to the one by my apartment. He told me five, and so I decided to give it a try.  Actually it wasn't as bad as I thought because it does give the stops in Pinyin (alphabet) inside the bus.  I have ridden it a few other time since then.  I am sure it will come in handy on a very cold day.

The first day I rode the bus, there was a little Chinese man sitting right across from me.  He looked at me very intently for quite a while, and then he leaned over very close and started speaking to me in Chinese.  I listened for a few seconds and then I shrugged my shoulders and said I didn't speak Chinese.  He slid back in his seat, closed his eyes, and muttered the rest of the way.  I do wish I could have understood what he was saying - especially the part when his eyes were closed.

 Here is a picture of the bus schedule.  Notice the Chinese characters.  You can tell why I was not very excited about taking a bus.

 Just any ordinary bus stop.

 Just any ordinary bus.

When I got off of the bus, I had to take a bridge to get across the road.  This picture is looking back on the street we just rode down.