Overwhelmed lol in Adventures in paradise

Just a short entry today.

Today the weather was MUCH nicer! Barely noticed any pollution in the air from the hotel windows, and the sky was blue. The only thing was that is was cold, about 8 degrees when I ventured outside for the first time.

I’ll be honest. It was overwhelming for me. Only because I am SO not used to it. I spent most of the time conscious of being in the way - not so much of other pedestrians but the constant motorcycles and scooters that the locals ride on the footpaths. I made note to try and walk as far right as possible, which is the opposite side for this Aussie. I’m glad that Ryan gave me tips this morning to let the people turning right on the road go first (they have right-of-way even when a green pedestrian light is lit.). Having said that, he said that if they hit you, they are at fault lol. Jesus. So trying to get used to THAT was a challenge in itself. And done crossings don’t even have the light crossings. Their system is foreign to me (funny that) but its just common sense really - don’t waste time, wait for the right turner’s to go first before crossing and do it quickly. It’s just that with everything being opposite and all these motorised vehicles flying along footpaths as well as the road, I got uncomfortable pretty quickly. I only ended up going for a short walk, but it felt long to me! I kept note of the fancy looking buildings and where they were so I wouldn’t get too lost or far from the hotel, but still managed to walk right past it on the way back. I was pretty stressed out and just wanted to be back in the comfort of the hotel. I was tired all of a sudden, and ended up having a three-hour nap LOL.
Ryan had written down the names of the hotel and Tiananmen square and the Forbidden City in Chinese in case I needed to give them to a taxi driver, but I was so overwhelmed by the short walk only a couple of blocks that I certainly didn’t make it to the tourist sites. I hope I can get braver soon, once I get more of a feel if a vehicle is going to run me over at a light or not. I just copied what other pedestrians were doing, and crossed close by and when they did. It was just scary when I was alone.
I found a park at one point and couldn’t believe how much quieter it was. I stood there to collect my thoughts for a while, taking in the quietness. It must have been all the honking horns, as the Chinese seem to sit on them rather than the indicators lol. I don’t think I got honked at, or yelled at by anyone, so that’s something.
But I still haven’t gone into a shop here yet, or walked anywhere of merit yet, as I’m still finding my bearings. Phewie.
You know me, I probs dramatize everything. I’m still alive thankfully. Just gotta get more confidence to cross roads and do like the locals do.
Ryan managed to set up WeChat for me on my phone, which was impossible from Australia. But I still can’t use the payment part of it, which is what every single business uses here, so it’s gonna be interesting when I have to hand over cash for the first time.
Anyway, it was a nice day otherwise. I went to the exclusive club by myself tonight, and was waited on hand and foot by the waiters, enjoying my free champagne. There is a pamphlet on this hotel club in my room and the membership price is RMB$80000 a year 😲
I think that’s around $18000 in my country? 😳
Anyway, enough of my rambling. Hopefully I can not be scared and make it to some tourist sites soon. I didn’t fly all this way to get hit by a bus/car/moped/scooter/bicycle. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, the amount of traffic seems to be constantly busy.
Anyway, learning about a new culture is exciting and scary.