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July 20, 2010

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paris (im)perfect

I'm so sorry you almost got mowed down, but that was a really funny post.

Out of curiosity, are there street lights and crosswalks - or is that just silly talk?

Be careful out there!

Kristin Bair O'Keeffe

Actually most intersections in Shanghai look the same as they do in Europe and the U.S. Streetlights, crosswalks, etc. The difference is, no one pays any attention to them. Pedestrians are the lowest beings in the food chain. Squashable. Mashable. Crushable. Even the sidewalks aren't off limits. Scooters & bikes frequently race at you on them, and sometimes even cars (you know, for that prime sidewalk parking spot).

Stay alert! :)

lisa walz

Christoph got hit by an electric bike at the begining of July. It was on Huai Hai as he went running out onto the sidewalk from a laneway. The driver didn't have a chance to stop and, to his credit, he came with us to the hospital and paid or everything. Nothing was broken and I hoped that it put enough scare into Christoph that he wouldn't do it again... We'll see next week when we get back.

lisa

Kristin Bair O'Keeffe

Hey Lisa...Hope Christoph is okay. Must have been awful. It is so gosh-darn hard to tell a two-year-old not to run.

Give a holler when you're back in town and we can get T & C together. Been living at the Ambassy pool. :)

Miss Footloose

Ah, traffic the world over! Lots of horror stories. My prince and I lived in Armenia for 6 years and people would ask us if it was dangerous there. They asked the same question when we lived in Ramallah, Palestine, and in Ghana, West Africa and the answer for all three is no.

However in Armenia, the most dangerous thing you could do was step off the sidewalk, and often just standing on the sidewalk was putting yourself in peril.

Drivers seemed to make it a sport to see if they could mow you down, and traffic lights and pedestrian crossings were there to be ignored.

We went on vacation to Italy, spent time in Rome, and were amazed how civilized the traffic was. In Rome, yes. We'd stand at the edge of the road and cars would slow down and stop to let us cross.
"We're in Europe!" we'd say to each other.

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ABOUT

  • Kristin Bair O'Keeffe

Kristin Bair O'Keeffe
Shanghai, China

I live in Shanghai, China, with my Irish
husband and Vietnamese daughter.
Throughout the past four years, I've
crisscrossed the globe more times than
I can count, and while doing so, have
discovered what a kooky, miraculous,
and lovely place our world is. My experiences
enlighten me, inspire me, and crack me up.

kristin(at)kristinbairokeeffe(dot)com