I spent the morning trying to get my place put together. I have made another video for your viewing pleasure. The computer doesn't work and actually gives off small shocks if you touch it the wrong way. Despite the 3 blankets I put on the couch it's still hard as a rock. Bob did not seem to like my idea of throwing out the useless stuff the last person left so I stuck it in the cabinet. The place was so gross! Imagine living in your current residence for a year or so and not really cleaning it then moving out without taking everything or cleaning. At least I only ended up with 1 razor and some random stuff. The woman upstairs had some very strange personal items left behind including about 5 used tooth brushes. I wonder if part of it is that the people that live here are fresh out of college and have never had their own place. Plus, no lease, no cleaning deposit, what does it matter to them?
I talked Bob into letting me put the refrigerator in the kitchen area but he said I had to put something up so sun wouldn't get on it. Yesterday they were able to fix the toilet so I don't have to shut the water off when I am not using it and then turn it back on when I need it. The bathroom sink dumps water straight onto the floor so that room is a mess. The shower system works okay, and with the open setting, it gave me the opportunity to try to clean the bathroom at the same time. One of the pipes under the kitchen sink in broken and supposedly they might fix that as well. The wok that was underneath it is totally spent though.
Breakfast was in the student cafeteria again. Cindy, the resident foreign teacher aid who herself is Chinese and teaches English here, informed me that today my fellow countrymen arrive. Hooray. I meet the first guy, Tim, right after breakfast. Jeff and Brian would have loved it: he was wearing a shirt with a huge American flag on it. Other than that, he wasn't very pleasant. Tim and another girl who is here, Adrianna, have been in China since July teaching English to middle schoolers. They have informed me that these apartments are pretty nice compared to what they were in before so I will get over myself.
I tried again with my computer and after getting shocked a couple more times, I decided to try elsewhere. Tim was nice enough to let me use his and he seemed to be in a better mood. I have learned that despite Bob informing me that the internet wouldn't be on until next week, I seem to be the only one without. Save for Tim's shower not having the hook the head sits on, everyone else's apartments seem in perfect order and their previous tenants left them great things like brooms and pots that weren't rusted out. Bob did take me to the store on campus yesterday though and bought me soap, toilet paper, a broom and a towel. It was actually pretty super.
At lunch I met two more foreign teachers, Adrianna who I already mentioned (from upstate NY) and a Chinese man here to teach Japanese. At lunch, we talked Cindy into taking us into town to go to a bigger store to get some necessities and in hope of greater selection from the stuff at the campus store. Trying to buy food when you can't read labels is harder than it sounds. Even cleaning supplies and personal supplies are hard because sometimes the pictures don't make any sense or the translated English is wrong. It was nice to have Cindy there though to help me figure some stuff out. The aisles were lined with workers just hanging out and whenever I got left alone they would push things into my arms and tell me long winded explanations as to why I need it (I am guessing) in Chinese. A bunch of little kids were also trying to pretend like they weren't following me around the store. In case I have failed to mention, this is one of those places where being white is interesting. People literally stop dead in their tracks to stare and to talk about the crazy white girl (I am guessing). Heaven forbid I do anything scandalous in public, like sneeze for example.
ANYWAY, Cindy asked if I would be doing my own cooking and I am sure I will eventually but right now I was at such a loss in the store I didn't know what to do! They don't have jelly or peanut butter, they don't have refrigerated milk or know what soy milk is. They have about a billion types of eggs, none of which are refrigerated, and some of which were blue or black and coated with strange materials. They have stuff that looks like bread but I am not sure about it yet. What I thought was yogurt was more like flavored milk type stuff. Perhaps China will be the ultimate diet plan.
I talked to Bob again about the computer issue. All he did was reiterate that I was the only one without one. Great. Now what can we do? I only brought one movie with me – The Inconvenient Truth (go figure) so I have been hoping internet would distract me from watching it already. Adrianna said I can use her computer though so I am going to wrap this up and try to get it online to you guys.
Here is something for you to think about until next time. They give us heaps of food - WAY more than we could ever eat. Would it be rude to take a container with me and bring some home? This is from the school cafeteria… Apparently it's considered rude to not give people more food than they can eat. I don't like it though because I think it's a huge waste. At least we are served family style so I am not the only one held responsible.
Also, once I get internet in my apartment I will look into getting Skype so I can call people. If you have any desire, look into it now on your end to see what needs to be done.
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