The Balloon Man

The Balloon Man

Traffic in Wuhan is messy.  While stuck in traffic on the way to a birthday party last night we had an unexpected surprise.  It would be impossible not to fall in love with a country where you can get stuck in a consistent jam of traffic and be cheered up by a man riding his scooter with around 50 inflated balloons shaped like Sponge Bob Square Pants and Winnie the Pooh.  He was weaving in and out of the traffic with not a care in the world and people were none too shocked to see him.  I think we may have thrown him off a bit by sticking our incredulous faces out the window to try and get a photo but his faced registered nothing.  I guess he was probably concentrating.  Damn, I would be.  I'm nowhere near confident enough to drive on a scooter myself let alone carrying a small carnival on my back.  I'll try to get that photo up asap.  It's a must see.

I have not been blogging because I have been stuck under a pile of around 100 essays that need immediate attention.  There are probably 5 out of the bunch that are at a canadian grade 12 level, and then about 4, off the top of my head, that could be considered University quality.  I definitely have my work cut out for me in the English department.  However, I did treat myself to a rather large Caramel Macchiato  at Starbucks yesterday and was lucky enough to snag a comfy chair in the corner which I turned into a marking fort, kicked my shoes off, plugged my ears into some tunes and didn't look up for 3 hours.  Must remember to find better things to reward myself with on a saturday than mammoth sized caramel coffee, but it was just the taste of home I needed yesterday.

I've been away more than a month now and it is starting to set in that I am not coming home for a while.  It was my beloved dad's birthday yesterday and i found it hard not to tear up when I was wishing that I could be home to celebrate with him.  But, he always says that, "Parents give their children roots, and then they give them wings".  I am enjoying this flight, and i need to keep reminding myself that it is not permanent and that one day I will land somewhere near my family and continue to share my life with the people I love so much.

What I am hoping to do is to keep exercising to keep busy, but also happy.  So, today I plan to venture out into Wuhan and find myself a bicycle.  All the teachers here have wheels of some sort and if you ride for about 20 minutes one way you can get completely out of the traffic clogged city that is my every day reality.  I am looking forward to joining the pack of cyclists and being able to wheel around and check out more of China.  So far all I have seen of this city has been through the window of a taxi and yesterday I couldn't help but sing the Mario Brothers song while my cabbie darted and weaved at high speeds.  It was fun to feel the speed but the lack of seat belts makes me nervous.  I have decide that a very important rule when travelling in a taxi solo is to make sure I am in the middle.  That way I may avoid any side swipes.  Sorry mom.  I'm being safe I swear.  But the traffic does not work the same here, for some reason amid the chaotic driving there is a sense of calm and trust that the other driver is not going to hit you if you cut in front or beside him.  You get to make your own lane literally and so far so good, but I really don't want to witness an accident.  At least on the bike I can stick to the side walks and then only have the scooters to contend with.

It's nice to put that into the void today and I if you don't hear from me in the next 2 weeks it is because we get a 10 day holiday!  We are travelling north to visit some Buddhist monasteries and find some tranquility as close to Tibet as we can get ourselves in a week.  Love to all and I hope to hear from any of you soon.