Why I Should Not be Allowed to Live in a Foreign Country Alone

There are two buses that run from a bus stop about a block away from my apartment to my work - one is number 7, the other is number 113. Number 113 takes me directly to my office by the same route that I would walk while number 7 takes a bit of a roundabout way. I usually take 113, but this morning I hopped onto a number 7 in light of the fact that there just weren't any bus 113s. And I do what I do every time I get onto a bus: I delve into my book.

You can guess where this is leading. I miss my bus stop completely. Of course, I refuse to admit that this is the case, and so I sit tight while the bus takes me deeper and deeper into a part of Kunming I'm not familiar with. After half an hour, I finally admit defeat (the bus ride usually takes just under 10 minutes) and jump off only to find myself in no man's land. I briefly entertain the idea of trying to find a bus that will take me back to where I want to go, but bus number 7 doesn't run on any sort of logical linear route. If you get on bus 7 going one direction, it will take you on a different path all together than if you get on it going the other direction. This is why I take bus 113 TO work and 69 FROM work. Is this just China? Is this how all buses work? I'm new to this public transportation thing - California is rather lacking in this sector.

Being in no man's land, the only cars running were huge trucks - not a taxi in sight except the occasion occupied one. And so I start walking back the direction my bus had come in. After a good 20 minutes I finally find a taxi. I watch in horror as we go back further and further the way my bus had come until finally we arrive at my precious office complex.

A 60 minute endeavor.
I got lost on the way to work.