A Day in the Life

We thought it might be nice to take a break from all these travel blogs and give you a glimpse of how we live on a daily basis. It isn't very exciting by any means, but at least it might help you picture how or what we're doing here.

Our university, Shandong University of Science and Technology, is located in a suburb of Qingdao, officially called the Economic & Technical Development Zone. That means that all of the major industry (and polluters) get shoved out here, away from the beautiful, healthy city of Qingdao. Within walking distance of campus, there are some major factories like Haier, Hisense/Hitachi, Aucma, and Sannis. While you may not be too familiar with all of these names, they are giants in the world of Chinese retail, Haier especially. Hopefully, in the future we'll be taking a tour of one of these massive factories and bringing you some info about factory life.

But today's blog is about something very near and dear to us here in China, bus #6.

Bus #6 is our closest bus stop to get into town. The stop is right outside the north gate of the school. Unfortunately, the #6's are also the oldest, slowest, and dirtiest buses in the fleet. We don't go into town that much, at most two times a week, because of the commute. From our bus stop to our most frequented stop in town takes approximately 40 minutes. Now, that isn't that bad, it's just that there really isn't that much in town that warrants a 40 minute ride. Nevertheless, we have to make our weekly grocery runs, and the occasional night out, or visit KFC or Pizza Hut, so we anxiously await "big green" at our bus stop.


There isn't any kind of strict bus schedule, but buses are supposed to run in 10 minute intervals, though, usually with #6 it can be up to 20 minutes (making the commute a solid hour!). Also, notice the brown sky in the picture above. As the weather has finally started warming, the sky has taken on a filmy brown quality. Check out the picture from on the bus below.

That strange ball of light hovering in the sky is the sun at mid-day trying in vain to cut through the atmosphere. Hopefully, the last few days have been something of an anomaly and we'll get some clear skies soon.

Back to the bus! As the bus pulls up to the stop, a bus conductor yells out the window asking if anyone wants to get on. Not all buses in China have bus conductors, but a good majority of them still do. They walk up and down the aisle (if they can) and demand money. Our ride into town costs 3 yuan for the both of us. The conductor then tears off two seemingly meaningless pieces of colored paper and hands them to us. In the picture below, you can see the conductor doing her routine.

All buses have the automatic bus card system installed, but I guess having bus conductors ensures more jobs for the people. If Kendall were an uneducated Chinese man, he'd either want to be a bus conductor or a taxi driver, both seem like good, simple lives. Speaking of which, sometimes we do take taxis into town (only 20 minutes!), but we like to think we're truly living Chinese when we bus it. Plus, we're rarely ever in a hurry anyway, in fact, the bus is a nice place to study flash cards or mull over LOST theories.

Inside the bus it's pretty spartan. Each bus has a different seating design, but invariably they always have seat covers, because the buses have been in use so long the seats are very worn. In the picture below, you can visualize you're on the front row of seats, right behind the driver! As you can see, it's just as hi-tech in the bus as it is outside. The box on the right is the bus card validator-thingy. A lot of times, especially on Sundays, these buses get crazy crowded. There has only been one time that we've been on the bus when they've not allowed any more people to get on. So, sitting next to an open window is crucial. Also, if you're ever standing on a crowded Chinese bus, watch your wallet! Pick-pockets love to make a quick snatch and hop-off on the next stop.

Guess that's enough bus talk for today. We have a special surprise below. On the bus route is a moderate hill, but the bus is so old that it barely makes it up each trip. It isn't uncommon for the bus to roll backward while the driver slams into the next gear. Check out the people walking on the sidewalk at about the same pace as the bus. Each time we cross our fingers we don't have to get out and push.




Be back later,

DB&KM