~you honestly find yourself thinking, "What an enjoyable ride!" because your taxi only has an overacted movie playing on the dash, the latest ballads coming from the radio, and one incessantly ringing cell phone simultaneously vying for your ears' attention.
~on a trip to the nearby(ish) city of 30 million people, with the intent of seeking out western food, you still only see a total of maybe 10 other wai guo ren.
~while on a bus or sharing a cab, the driver excitedly tells every other passenger he picks up/drops off the life story he's already pulled from you. (She's American! She's a teacher! She's lived here two years!)
~you find yourself teaching your weekday classes on a weekend to "make up" for the holiday in the coming week.
~finding a seat on the subway and riding it for an hour feels like a mini vacation.
~you feel perfectly safe, as a single woman, walking up to a group of sketchy looking fellas late at night to ask if any of them drive to your city. In fact, you know this is probably the best way home as well as the safest and most organized after the trains stop running.
~you realize that the long hours of studying Chinese characters have finally paid off because you recognize every single one in a phrase...but you still have no idea what it's actually trying to communicate.
~you no longer think twice when a driver boldly barrels up the wrong side of the street and have utmost confidence that either he or the oncoming truck will avert the seemingly inevitable impact.
~you still curse the stairs of death after an added year of "acclimating" to them.
~sometimes dinner just doesn't taste right because there isn't enough numbing pepper in it.
~deciding between taking advantage of the rare sunshine outside or the rare internet connection inside feels like an overwhelming choice, and almost a moral dilemma.
~your day off is decidedly more busy with students popping over or organizing projects than your regular working schedule.
~you feel like you could live here a million years and still not understand some everyday occurrences.
~on a trip to the nearby(ish) city of 30 million people, with the intent of seeking out western food, you still only see a total of maybe 10 other wai guo ren.
~while on a bus or sharing a cab, the driver excitedly tells every other passenger he picks up/drops off the life story he's already pulled from you. (She's American! She's a teacher! She's lived here two years!)
~you find yourself teaching your weekday classes on a weekend to "make up" for the holiday in the coming week.
~finding a seat on the subway and riding it for an hour feels like a mini vacation.
~you feel perfectly safe, as a single woman, walking up to a group of sketchy looking fellas late at night to ask if any of them drive to your city. In fact, you know this is probably the best way home as well as the safest and most organized after the trains stop running.
~you realize that the long hours of studying Chinese characters have finally paid off because you recognize every single one in a phrase...but you still have no idea what it's actually trying to communicate.
~you no longer think twice when a driver boldly barrels up the wrong side of the street and have utmost confidence that either he or the oncoming truck will avert the seemingly inevitable impact.
~you still curse the stairs of death after an added year of "acclimating" to them.
~sometimes dinner just doesn't taste right because there isn't enough numbing pepper in it.
~deciding between taking advantage of the rare sunshine outside or the rare internet connection inside feels like an overwhelming choice, and almost a moral dilemma.
~your day off is decidedly more busy with students popping over or organizing projects than your regular working schedule.
~you feel like you could live here a million years and still not understand some everyday occurrences.
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