I've always thought it would be fun to try some real exciting things like hang-gliding, rock climbing, sky diving, I haven't done them....yet, but they seem like fun things to try. 

These days I don't need to book an airplane or hang glider, all I have to do is cross a street.  Traffic in China is a whole different experience than it was in America.  I admit I haven't spent much time in the more major cities.  I did live in Dallas for a couple of years, but that's the largest it's been.  When I had moved to a very rural area and came back to Dallas for a visit I was totally stressed out by the traffic.  This, even though I had had a job making deliveries to hospitals every day and had bombed around the city like a race car driver when I had lived there.

But China.  Let me put it this way, that yellow line in the middle of the road?  It's pretty much considered optional.  I am ashamed to admit this.  But I used to be one of those annoying back seat drivers with my husband.  He would do things and take chances when we drove in the US that would scare me and I would nag him to "cut it out!".  But here, I can be in a  taxi who veers into the other lane to go around the slow moving car ahead heading right towards a city bus and just sit there calmly now thinking "somebody wiill move in time".    But it IS funny to watch the reaction of visiting foreigners at that time.

When you cross the street, at least in this city, you simply stroll out into traffic gauging how fast that car is coming, walking slowly or quickly to time it just right.  you walk across one lane, stand on the center stripe for the next lane to clear and then continue on.  EJ and ED are quite bold in this.  They get across not sweat.  But when my mom was coming for a visit last year I told them "no crossing the street like that when she's here!  She'll die of cardiac arrest!"Not to sound like a careless Mom, I'm not at all.  But they've proven their wisdom (and tried the strength of MY heart) in the time here.  S I still keep a good grip on when we cross.  He has justifiably earned the name 'Mr. Oblivious" on more than one occasion.  He just doesn't see what's going on or could happen, so for now (much to his chagrin) I keep in carefully in tow until we are across. 

In other news, yes we are keeping one of the kittens, EJ has claimed one as her own.  I had wanted one but since she's moving back to the US in less than a year that one will become my own eventually so that's good.  A friend has asked for one, so we just need to find a home for one. 

doulos