第1个回答 2006-01-14
Bike accident
I guess I really should add a blog, say something about my experience in China. One event that happened this last week is definitely worth mentioning. I was biking from the school to the photo shop on Thursday, and I was crossing the main road (Beijing Dong Lu). The light was green, so I crossed the street. Out from behind a bus popped a new BMW which hit the front end of my bike. I vaulted up onto the hood of the car and the windshield, my bike going under the car - front wheel and front basket ruined. The driver and the front passenger jumped out of the car and started yelling and swearing at me, pointing at the scratch I had made on their bumper. Thankfully, some of my grade 11 students were nearby and saw my predicament. They ran over and started translating for me. The cops were called, and it took a while for them to come. All the while, these guys were swearing at me - or so my students said, since I don't speak Chinese (starting a course tonight, so that should hopefully change). After the police showed up, the students translated for me - they looked at the car, listened to the stories, looked at my bike and then decided that the BMW driver had to pay me 100 Yuan to fix my bike. It was weird - 5 minutes before, it seemed the guys in the BMW were about to attack me (although once they actually got a close look at me, they definitely backed off), and then they were kindly passing over 100 Yuan ($15 CDN).
I'm really glad my students were there otherwise things might have gone sour. I wouldn't want to be in a Chinese jail right now.
Probably the most difficult part was getting the bike fixed. I was told where some bike repair shops were, so the next day, Friday, I walked / carried my bike down to the repair shops. All three of the shops looked at the bike, said "ok, ok, ok,;' went into their shop, rooted around for a while, then came back and said "mei yo" - "nothing / cannot." So I wandered around, carrying this bike, and no one could fix it.
So then I thought, ok, the place I bought it from should be able to fix it. I then took it there, and they at first said no, they couldn't, that I would have to go somewhere else. I argued and complained and finally they said they would get the part delivered and they would fix it. So I took a taxi home, went back the next day and now have a new tire on my bike. Not sure if I'm going to replace the basket yet, but the new tire cost a whole of 60 Yuan (plus 20 for taxis = 80; less than I was paid for the accident, pretty cool)
Anyway, that's my story, I have many more to tell, so bear with me as I find the time to write them