Transportation

Many, if not most, of the families at Julia’s school have drivers. Some have their own cars. I wouldn’t drive here if you paid me. The subway is fast, frequent, cheap (40 to 75 cents a ride) and incredibly crowded at rush hour, just like in any other major city. Of course, there aren't many subway routes to choose from, but we chose our apartment partly based on proximity to a subway station so Bill could get to work easily. Buses come in air-conditioned and not, and you pay an extra yuan (12.5 cents) for AC. I am not yet ready to try taking a bus anywhere. The subway stations sell stored-value transit cards that are good on the subway, buses or in taxis. Cab drivers seem to be very honest, but they don’t always know their way around, so we need to be prepared to give directions in words, not just with gestures and map.

One example: on Friday of the second week of school Julia and I were invited to the home of one of her classmates, with whom she’d been corresponding, whose mother is a real estate agent who arranged for our apartment. I had called the mother because Silvia, her assistant, hasn’t been as helpful as we'd hoped, and I guess I sounded so lost that she invited us over. I got to school and there was a group of 4 girls going over to the house. Susanne called me (yes, I have a Chinese cell phone now) and said she had arranged for a car – it turned out to be the driver of the father of one of the girls, and the idea was that we could all manage using the school bus and the car. I wandered off while we were waiting for the car and when I came out the girls were gone (turned out there wouldn’t have been room for me in the car anyway) and the buses were gone, so I had to get a cab.

I managed to flag down a taxi and I had the Susanne's address card, with a map, which I showed it to the driver. After looking at it for a bit he said sorry (in English), and I got out. I got another cab, and he took me somewhere – turned out to be the neighboring complex – and let me out, everyone, including the guards at the complex, insisting that I must be in the right place. Finally the guards got someone who spoke English on the phone, and she told me I was nowhere near the address I wanted (she was wrong). I called Susanne, who said yes, you’re nearby, you can walk. It was a long block (we’re talking the edge of town here, sort of like parts of Florida where they are carving developments out of the swamp), but I discovered that in fact I was in the right place. I eventually deciphered the map on Susanne's card and found their house - Whew! Susanne told me I must never let the taxi driver let me out without taking me where I want to go, but it’s hard when you aren't sure where you're going. The kids, of course, had been there for quite a while and were tucking into waffles and ice cream when I finally arrived.

We had no trouble getting back home by cab. Drivers know the big streets perpendicular to our little street, and they know Shanghai TV. Now if I can only remember to pronounce the names properly . . .