Wait, it takes you how long to get to work?

I apologize for the delay in posting things, I started work on Monday and we moved from the hotel we were living in to the dorm we are supposed to be living in, so this week has been rather hectic. So I’m putting up a whole bunch of things at once (lucky you!). In any case, as a lowly intern at a global company, I have my own cubicle, which means I have plenty of time to reflect and formulate new blog entries.
On Monday, we left our hotel at 8am for the bus, because we were asked to get to the office by 9am. Zach and I thought that we would certainly make it to the office in the requisite hour, with time to spare, we really don’t live that far from the office. BIG MISTAKE. We forgot that we had timed our commute on a Wednesday afternoon, not in Monday morning rush hour. We also forgot that the vast majority of the millions of people living in this city rely on public transportation to get to work, school, etc. We made it to the office by 9:30, sweating because the bus was so crowded we had to stand pushed up against what seemed like the entire population of Beijing squeezed onto one bus (side note: people apparently aren’t very fond of deodorant. Suffice it to say, that was the last time I took a shower BEFORE getting on the bus). I cannot believe that normal people choose to jam onto crowded buses everyday of their life to travel to work. Traveling by car isn’t really that much better, since the traffic is horrendous, and there is no possibility of building a cross-town expressway through the city because it’s bad feng shui. After that experience, we started the countdown to the end of our bus riding (24 workdays, 48 bus rides, woo-hoo). I can’t wait to return home to my 15 minute walk to the office or my 5 minute drive to baby-sit. And, I will never again complain about having to stand up on Chapel Hill Mass Transit, since even if I’m standing, I’m not pressed up against some stranger.
When we made it to the office, my supervisor told us we’re lucky if we make it to work in less than an hour and a half in Beijing, and you get used to the pushing and shoving to get on and off. She said that waiting for a cab in the morning is nearly impossible too, she had waited for half an hour in her neighborhood and one person managed to grab a cab (and it wasn’t her, so she was a little flustered at the office). Plus, when you ride in a cab, you have the added fear of watching your life flash before your eyes. The guidebooks weren’t joking when they said that the lines on the road are really mere suggestions, not actual rules. I have never seen so many near-accidents, and the rule seems to be that the largest form of transportation is always right, buses can cut off cabs, cabs cut of bicycles and bicycles cut-off pedestrians. Its like playing a game of Frogger to cross the street (the secret: move in large crowds).
Now Zach and I leave at 7:30, it’s amazing what a difference half an hour makes. The air isn’t quite so stagnant at 7:30, and if we make it to the office at 8:30, we can leave for the day at 5:30, which we do, on the dot, much to the dismay of everyone else who thought they’d sleep in late.