I Live in Chongqing, China

If someone would have told me 5 years ago that I would be living on a mountain overlooking the largest city in the world today, I would have laughed at them. Knowing myself, it just does not seem like where I would end up. I like walking through fields and seeing the stars and running into elementary school friends at the farmer's market. But that's where I live: Chongqing, China- the largest city that you've never heard of, and I am slowly adjusting to it.

Unsurprisingly, living in a new place in a new country has it's difficulties. One being that I have no idea what I'm doing 90% of the time. I'm basically a tiny baby bird. I'm slowly learning my way around campus- which by the way is a lot bigger than I imagined it would be. Gradually learning my way around the city on the mountain. And I am totally lost in the actual city center of Chongqing. If it weren't for my teammates, I would never have left campus- or done so very very slowly (aka- hunger would have driven me to the grocery, but that's probably about it- and it would have taken me hours to find the grocery and my way back.)

As it is, I am outing and abouting pretty regularly. Getting to know public transportation- still don't know if I could do any of it myself- maybe the bus. It's a whole new world for me, coming from absolutely never using public transit in Lexington to now being dependent on it. It's an entirely new world.

But public transit offers so many opportunities to see things that I never would have otherwise. Yesterday we went to the "Times Square" of Chongqing (conveniently called Times Square- I think- I saw one sign that said that), and couldn't get a cab back up the mountain because it was Friday night and everyone wanted a cab. So, we took an hour long bus ride back, and I got to see so much of Chongqing that I may not have otherwise. First, I saw a pretty sweet, dark back alley and a 5-lane highway that we crossed without a crosswalk (yay adventure!). But I also got to see some of the more residential side of the city: the apartment buildings, the places where people who live in Chongqing actually go. And I love the people who ride the bus. Everyone does. There are college students, businessmen, Chinese tourists, young parents with their kids, grannies, and then us- the funny little pack of foreigners. I'll probably end up loving the Chongqing bus system like I love the Beijing subway! It's just lovely to see the mix of people you see and the parts of the city that you see. Chongqing has so much character. More than I will probably ever know- no matter how long I live here.

Chongqing is super interesting. It's absolutely enormous. It is hilarious to look around at the city and think about Lexington which has two "skyscrapers", both of which are banks and both of which are dwarfed by the apartment buildings here. My teammate was joking with me and said, "you're going to have to resign yourself to living in a rural, unknown town in Southwest China." There's an IKEA here, and a Gucci, and about a million other things that Lexington never thought of having.

That being said, I also have to adjust to the enormity. I know my way around Lexington backwards and forwards. There are people who grew up in Chongqing that have never been to parts of the city. I'm not going to be able to know every alleyway and area of Chongqing. It's simply not possible. I just have to get to know the areas that I'll be in, and I can adventure beyond once I get the basics down.

It's a world of it's own here, and slowly and surely I'm getting introduced to it. I'm ridiculously overwhelmed right now, but it will eventually calm down. School will start and I'll get a routine. For now, I live in confusion. But good confusion.