Katie Mileu was not kidding when she wrote that song.
So I didn’t live in Beijing, but I did live in Wuhan that has a population of over 10.5 million people.
My first day in Wuhan, still jet lagged AF. Showered and no sleep, I decided to get the necessaries sorted out like: my SIM card for my phone, a subway card, bank account and health insurance. My housemate was kind enough to show me the “ropes”.
Hopped onto the subway then we rented bicycles (interesting fact: Wuhan is known for it’s bike-sharing system much like many European countries. Download the Ofo app or the Mobike app which is linked to your bank account. It is so easy, cheap and super convenient- 1RMB= 2ZAR for the first hour).
Embarrassing episode one —> OMG!!!! life lesson: DO NOT WEAR SKINNY JEANS WHEN RIDING A BICYCLE! What a colossal disaster. It was so uncomfy to get onto the bike with these skinny jeans and peddling 
was challenging. Then I had to navigate through the city, with buses, cars and scooters. Those scooters, they have no chill! Hooting, screaming, buses whizzing by so fast, dust in my eye, coughing from the smell of diesel, trying to stay in my lane and not get rode over, also trying not to bump into pedestrians. It was the scariest day ever and my adventures were only just starting. Chanting to myself, “I am too young to die I am too young to die”. We arrived to the bank safely-physically, but emotional state- hanging on by a thread.
Embarrassing episode two —> Now let me tell you, if you ever want to feel like a celebrity, go to China. People stopped dead in their tracks when they saw me, screaming “Waiguo ren” (foreigner), phones were out, photos were being taken of me, everyone saying “hello”, because that was the only English word they knew. Shocked, was an understatement. I was like, what is going on???? Conor (housemate) laughed and casually said: “oh you will get used to it“. To think so many photos of me on some strangers phones – seems creepy AF if you ask me.
Annoyance episode one —> I get back to my apartment after everything was sorted out to find out that my phone is network locked (which I was assured by this certain red network back home that it was indeed not network locked). Climbed over that hurdle. I was now blocked from all my social media accounts because it didn’t recognise the new mobile number and I could not use my laptop to log in as it was a new browser (new laptop) and the browser was not recognised. FML!!!! Climbed over that hurdle eventually.
It was a tough day one. All of the emotions.
Wuhan: 1 / Reva: 0
Never a dull moment in China.
RK
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The Chronicles of Rev K 