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As you all may know, I am an American currently living in China. Life in China is obviously different between the two countries. I could talk about the big differences between the two countries, but I want to talk about the little differences between the two countries as well. Differences that you don’t expect or notice until you travel.

So I will start by talking about crossing the street. In the US, we have to obey the crossing light at the cross walk. If we cross when the light is red, then police will easily give us a ticket. But cars will also stop for pedestrians to walk as well, so in a way, crossing the street can take a little while, but it’s relatively safe if you follow the rules. But in China, I noticed that if I try to follow these rules, it becomes very difficult. The drivers seem to try to drive when the crossing light is green, so it makes it difficult for people to cross. So, when the road looks clear, people will cross if they get the chance.

I think they must really laugh when they see a foreigner try to cross the street in China, because when I first came here, I didn’t know what to do. I waited for the light, and saw many people crossing during red. Then green came, so I tried to cross. But when this happened, every car turning decided to turn. I was stuck in the middle of the road for about 20 minutes, since when the cars finished turning, the light turned red and then more cars drove through and blocked my way. Eventually I gave up and waited for there the road to be clear, and even though the crossing light was still red, I finished crossing. And that was one of the most difficult things I had to learn to do in China: cross the road.