Like Riding A Bike

This Friday I got a bicycle!  I haven't ridden since I was in middle school, but I got one for 130 yuan with a lock thrown in.  I should say, I picked the bike, and then Ruth and Jane (you may remember an earlier post talking about some girls who gave me moon cakes and some hand made flowers.  That was Ruth and Jane) bargained it down.  It has a white rose on it, which I did not see before I bought it, so I want to call it 薔薇 which means rose in Japanese.

(A side note about the word  薔薇.  My Japanese is not as sharp as it once was, so I checked to make sure that I remembered it correctly.  I did.  But I also discovered that there are two ways of saying  薔薇 which I was unaware of, which also mean rose.  The first, the one I knew, was 'bara' ばら.  The second and third, 'soubi' and 'shoubi' そうび としょうび are written using the exact same characters.  About a week ago I was listening to someone explain to the foreigners who speak better Chinese why they think foreigners have a hard time reading since some characters have more than one way to be read.  Ha!  I say, ha!)

Yesterday I rode my new bike around campus, especially up and down the street behind our apartments next to the track field, which has little to no traffic.  Today I rode it to the convenience store on campus and to the soccer field.  I am still too scared to ride out in street traffic, but it is amazing how those fundamentals, once learned, stay in your brain.

I have managed to have an actual conversation with Mrs. Wang王太太.  In the International Affairs building right next to our apartments live Mr. Wang 老王 and his wife.  They are caretakers of the area and live in the International Affairs building.  Mr. Wang has a strong accent and even our Chinese friends have trouble understanding him.  Mrs. Wang on the other hand speaks very clearly.  Usually I can follow a conversation she has with someone else who speaks better Chinese, but can't actually say anything of consequence myself.  Well, today she was out gardening when I came out to ride my bike, and told her that I bought it yesterday, that it was not new, and that Molly had also gotten a not new bike yesterday.  Mrs. Wang knows a fair amount about bikes, and she said many things I did not catch.  She pointed out parts of the bike, possibly commenting on the quality.  But I was just so happy I could be understood saying small talk and could understand her as much as I did.  It's shaky, but it's just like riding a bike.