Stairs on Stairs on Stares

I live on a mountain Not a bit of a hill Not an undulating landscape I live on a mountain When you get a taxi home, you say: .... Nan shan (Nanshan) which translates to:. South Mountain It's a mountain, and my apartment happens to be on the top of the mountain side of campus, as are all the apartments and dorms. What this translates into is stairs. Lots and lots of stairs for me to climb. It is not as if it's unbearable, but somedays it's quite the deterrent to going into town. Because when you go into town to run errands or get groceries, you have to then haul your groceries or your errand-tired self back up the mountain. There is a shuttle that will drive you up the mountain and will deposit you right at the door to our building, and believe you me, I have taken advantage of that shuttle. But there are some days when I just want to prove to myself that walking back up to my apartment is easy. Today was one of those days.

Today I was productive. We had an International College meeting this morning, then I went home, cooked lunch and then decided that I was going to run errands. And I did. I wandered around a bit to get the feel of the town a bit more. Found a park- very lovely, I will have to go sketch it sometime (and I just found out that it connects to campus somehow). Figured out how to mail things (you go to the post office, make sure your letters are visible, and someone will eventually realize what you want and that you have no idea what you are doing, weigh them, and tell you how much you owe). Went to the grocery. Then began back up the mountain. I was kind of tired , and my bag was kind of heavy- I was running pretty low on food, and I've mastered how to operate the grocery store so I like to take advantage of that. I was a little cranky and kind of sweaty, because apparently that's how I live here (the sweaty part- not the cranky part). 

Then I got here.

These gems are affectionately called the Stairs of Doom. Our apartments are located at the top of these stairs. It's six flights. If I'm being honest, I was not pleased to reach this point. If you can see the guy in yellow in the picture, when I took this, I was so jealous of him because he was already halfway up. There's a little store two flights up that I always fantasize about stopping at just to break up the stairs, but I have not yet- one day I will. These stairs are not my favorite. Gloria and I carried my shipped bag (60ish lbs) up these stairs. And today I carried my groceries up them. 

It's not as if they are a complete nightmare. There's usually a lot of students around, and I do not want to be that foreign teacher who is struggling, so I usually push through pretty well. But they are exhausting. The shuttle drives past these , and I love watching them go past when I'm on the shuttle. The shuttle drove by me as I walked up the stairs today- I did not love it. But I got to the top- obviously, it's not as if it's impossible . And I was pretty pleased with myself. My day of productivity continued!

This is where the second phase of the story begins. 

I'm still getting used to being one of the few foreigners on the mountain, and really in Chongqing. It is leaps and bounds better than Beijing. No one takes pictures here (or, if they do, they're incredibly sneaky about it because I have not caught them), and, especially near the university, people are kind of used to foreign teachers. However, I still get the stares, and as someone who likes to wander and who used to wander in relative anonymity, it's still a bit uncomfortable. Am I supposed to smile at everyone, or just ignore it? I just do not know how to react. And as someone who talks to themselves while they walk sometimes, I really have to keep myself in check- because people notice , and I really do not want to be dubbed the crazy foreign teacher. It's a process, and I'm just getting used to it. 

So I've reached the top of the stairs. I'm sweaty and disgusting (I usually look pretty decent up until the stairs- they destroy me) and I can not wait to be back in my air-conditioned home. Then I hear it, "这个，这个是外教", basically: "this, this is a foreign teacher" It was a tour group, and I was a perfect illustration of the foreign teachers here at CQUPT The perspective students and their parents did. . not see me at quite the height of my beauty, I was disgusting and exhausted from the errands and the aforementioned stairs. They did not seem to mind though. They looked on with interest as their shuttle drove past, and I think someone took a picture. 

The moment that they drove past and I stood there in minor confusion, exhaustion, and amusement at the turn of events in my life- it's a pretty good picture of my life right now. Constant confusion. Getting into shape climbing this mountain. Everyday hilarity . 

This is my life right now. And it's fabulous.