me and my bike

So I've traded in my metro card for a bike lock and sore legs. It's good exercise and honestly it seems like the fastest way to get around (if you know where you're going and it's not all the way on the other side of the city). Imagine New York city traffic but with less attention to detail -- and by detail I mean red lights and stop signs and driving on the correct side of the road, that kind of thing -- plus a bike lane -- and by bike lane I mean bikes, cabs, the occasional bus -- and you get the morning/evening commute picture. It is rather chaotic at times but people seem to make do and while there is an excess of honking, it seems more ornamental, a gesture perhaps, just letting everyone know you're there. So far I haven't seen any fists shaking or people yelling at each other.

I've made the trip over to Chao Yang, the Northeastern part of the city, twice now, the first time it took 2 hours to get there (see above note re knowing where you are going) and the second time it took about an hour and twenty minutes. It is an eventful ride though. I get to bike past a bunch of Olympics-related construction (is it really possible that it will all be finished in less than a year??), including this, the National Stadium, which just so happens to resemble a spaceship. Vaguely reminiscent of the space transporting machine from Contact. Anyone?

Something new to get used to -- getting stared at all the time. When complaining about this to a friend here the response was a good-natured, well at least you're not blond. Getting looked at so much wouldn't be as bad I guess if it weren't for the fact that half the time I get the distinct impression that I'm being looked at more as a funny lab experiment gone wrong than anything else -- what is wrong with her hair? What's with all the spots on her face?