Catching a Ride

Yesterday was the first day that I woke up AFTER 9:00 am (I need to be at work by 9:00)! Today I set my alarm. I haven't been doing that as I was waking up at 7:00 most days anyway. Anyway, I think maybe it is getting harder to get up in the morning because it is still dark out when it is time to go to work... dark being relative. I mean, it's as dark as an overcast winter day in Vancouver. But here, the sun usually starts streaming in the windows a lot earlier. (BTW, there is no such thing as daylight's saving time in most of Asia, so I am now 11, not 12 hours ahead of NY and Toronto).

Anyway, I got up, showered and turned on my computer to see if Amy was online... She was! 8:15 am... still time to chat a little and get to work on time. Then I heard the front door slam - Tommy. He was supposed to leave for University at 7:30! I turn off the computer to get a ride part-way to work. I can walk to work via Starbucks if I go with him. The ride is terrifying as Chonghua Rd is jam packed: 4 lanes of bumper to bumper rush-hour traffic, all the spaces in between lanes buzzing with motor-scooters trying to get ahead of the cars and each other. We are one of them and I have to close my eyes to avoid feeling like we are just ricocheting off the car on the left into the car on the right... zig-zagging back and forth like a ball in a racquetball match. I squeeze my eyes shut to keep panic at bay.

Choke... a bus pulls in front and we get a face full of exhaust. (The rule of the road here is that the bigger vehicle gets right of way, pedestrians being least privileged even when they have a flashing green running man at a crosswalk!) The pollution at this time is almost tangible. I arrive at the corner of Chunghua and Baoqing Rd with my eyes shut, holding my breath...

AH! It really is a Starbuck's morning as the line at the cheaper local coffee chain is around the block and I only have 15 minutes to get to work.