After a beautiful day yesterday with 26 degrees and a (relatively) blue sky, today the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees and the blue sky became grey and rainy. That normally means lots of traffic jams, so I decided not to drive to an appointment on the other side of town, but to take the subway. I got in at Xujiahui station and was lucky to find an empty seat, next to a middle-aged woman. The moment I sat down she looked at me for a split second, and suddenly realized I was not a fellow Chinese.

So what do you do then if you are not used to foreigners? You are terrified to sit next to such a strange creature and get up right away! At least that’s what she did, giving me lots of extra space. I felt a bit awkward but decided to react in a Chinese way: by totally ignoring the situation.