Okay after two successful phone calls its time to blog about.

It all began way back at the beginning of the semester when I confided in James this semester would be different. This semester I would make an honest effort to learn Chinese. I had two goals set to accomplish by the end of the semester

1. Be able to introduce myself.

2. Order my own water for the apartment.

Although I can say I have accomplished both it is not exactly with the ease or fluency with which I had hoped.

But I have now ordered my own water successfully twice. I will for the sake of honesty admit I still have to read from the email James sent me but hey I’m still the one that makes the call at the end of the day right. So for now I will bask in the glory of the little achievements which hopefully someday, and someday soon will add up to larger ones.

Here’s my script

ni4 hao3, wo3 shi4 qing1 nian2 jiao4 shi1 gong1 yu4 202 fang2 jian1 de1 mei3 guo2 lao3 shi1, wo3 xiang3 yao4 yi1 tong3 shui3, xiexie.

你好，我是青年教师公寓202房间的美国老师，我想要一桶水，谢谢

We are continuing to have toilet issues here although they have changed. The latest issue consists of a high pitch whine that follows every flush. The whine starts about 1 min after flushing and lasts for at least 3.5 min no exaggeration. I swear everyone in the building is informed when we use the restroom, it doesn’t exactly allow for discrete visits at night either!

Well the other day I just couldn’t take it anymore. I was half dressed and decided it was going to be fixed then and there! So I opened the tank and started tinkering. I soon discovered if I pushed the pump thingy to the side far enough the whining stopped. Did I bother to figure out if that was a wise move? Of course not, the whining stopped that was all I cared about.

If I had had chewing gum you better bet that would have been part of the solution.

Solution found but how to make the solution stick, I went to the office and rummaged through my arts and crafts drawer. I returned to the bathroom with a ball of yarn, packing tape and safety scissors.

I’m so proud of my fix-it skills! Now lets just pray it holds and doesn’t make the problem worse seeing as I know I’m pulling something that probablly shouldn’t be pulled but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

So for now that annoying whining is gone and I can once again pee discreetly.

I’ve never been a die hard sports fan, so in all honesty when I made the decision to wake up at 2:30 this morning to catch the US vs UK game I was a little shocked.

I don’t know what it is about living outside your native country but your national pride gets kicked into overdrive and your team spirit is ignited. So I decided to drag myself out of bed watch the game and then grab a few more hours of shut eye before heading to work this morning at 7:30. Sad truth is even though I was watching to support the US I was stunned when we actually tied the game. I learned my lesson in Argentina never to boast about your sports team, you can’t show your face in school for a week when you lose. Yes I’m still bitter Argentina beat the USA in the Gold medal match for Basketball in Athens. Yeah I seriously feigned sick for two days I was so mortified. This time I talked down the USA team and admitted we would most likely be creamed by England. But our boys did us proud and pulled off a tie. Go TEAM!

Overall, so worth it and I’m pumped to see the Germany vs Australia game tonight at 2:30. The best part of soccer is that its universal, the fact that announcers are all Chinese makes no differnce. Also I can grade papers while watching and wait for crowd reaction to look up. As Katie put it, soccer players are the world’s greatest sports actors and replay only makes it 10 times as much fun. The slow motion shots and replays from half a dozen angles allows for the only game you can watch 3 times while live!

Well I’m off to get a quick nap in so I can get up tonight.

Our ever growing shoe collection

I decided last year that shoes where no longer welcome in my house. I’m convinced it is not a cultural curtsy but a hygienic necessity here! I would gladly lick the bottom of my shoes in America before I’d wipe the bottom of my shoe here against my jeans. For a country so concerned about health I’m appalled at the lack of hygiene. I started leaving my shoes against the wall for easy access and polite reminder to guests.

During the winter we had all our shoes out. Kelly counted once and there was something like 30 pairs. I never anticipated a downside, well, until this evening that is.

I needed to go to the office on the first floor so I quickly slipped on a pair of slippers. They are fuzzy on the inside so I didn’t think much of the tickle on my toes. I just wiggled them around a bit and finished my copying. When I got back to my apartment I just couldn’t seem to satisfy the tickle so I reached down take off the slipper when a millipede crawled out.

Not exactly the company I like to keep in my shoes!

Kelly you better thank me because it took everything out of me not to scream and wake you up. I don’t consider myself squeamish around bugs per say but when I say the pinchers on that thing and that fact it had been crawling all over my toes for the last 20min, well I thought my reaction showed quite a lot of self control! I did grab the stapler like any sane girl.

The stapler was even PINK!

I can’t find the camera cord so I’ll add pictures in the morning. Now if I could just stop imageing bugs crawling all over my feet I could go to bed. I just might have to start wearing socks 24/7. I hate wearing socks but I think I’ve found something I hate worse!

The funniest part of the whole situation was right before Kelly went to bed I complained that bug season was starting. We’ve had an extremely cool spring, and the bugs have only just begun coming out. So I can officially say bug season is HERE!

Does that look like a 5:30am sky to you?

As I’ve complained before about the insanity of being in such a huge country with a single timezone,  nothing could have prepared me for the spring here. When I came in the fall the days were getting shorter and the nights longer. Now that I’m at the opposite end of seasons the days are getting longer and the nights shorter.

 I woke up this morning to bright lights. When I rolled over I expected to see 7:30 on my clock, having over slept. No luck, it was 5:30 still another hour before I could even start hitting the snooze button.

 The only logical solution is to tackily black out the windows.  But if this 5:30 wake up call continues I see no other alternative.

Nothing makes you feel more unprepared then a crisis. Well maybe there is, a crisis with five children sitting around your table.

Now before you panic please remember I tend to exaggerate, no need to jump on skype and see home I’m doing. I’m fine.

Last night I was in the middle of tutoring when the lights went out. It was the only time I was grateful my parents have continually remained at my apartment during the lessons. I teach the children in the large hall with no outside facing widows. When the lights went off our area was pitch black. The parents entered and helped calm the excited children. Here’s another universal, turn of the lights and Children go crazy. They can find a thousand things to do in under two min, then proceed to do all of them in under five.

Utilities here work on prepaid cards. When the utility is used up you swipe another card at the appropriate utility station in your apartment or building. I’ve had only one power out so far but it was during the day and James had it sorted within min. But as I looked around campus there wasn’t a light to be seen. So it was obviously not due to a late electric bill.

Thank heaven for fathers who insist daughters take essential items such as flashlights.

Luckily Kelly and I both had flashlights. I worked the class out with the parents and was able to send all the children home early. I don’t even want to think how I would have had to keep their attention for another hour in the dark. Soon they were gone and the boredom set in.

NO lights, NO TV, NO Internet, but worst yet, NO computer. My computer has become my life here. What was I to do? Kelly and I decided to take a walk. Night walks are always fun and there was a bright moon out.

As soon as we opened the door the storm started. We stayed in the door way for a few min enjoying the fresh storm. I love the way that storms smell. Unfortunately in China, that wonderful smell is at times interrupted with a whiff of China which your nose often feels it will never recover from.

The wind was incredible, the rain started pouring in a matter of seconds.

The large earthquake in Western China had not phased me until this night. I’ve been truly blessed in my life never to be in any natural disaster or any disaster for that matter. It wasn’t until this evening that I got a little shaken. It wasn’t the power out as much as the vulnerability. I soon realized we were out of drinking water but hadn’t yet call in a new bottle. With the power out we had no methods for which to boil water. Without power I also had no ability to contact my family. My cell was only getting interrupted signals which was making calling out extremely frustrating if near impossible.

This evening I have come to truly appreciate my parents and their preparedness. So, mom don’t convert my bedroom yet I just might be bunking at home for the rest of my life.

Kayte: What smell? I don’t smell anything.

Last semester when Katie and Thomas helped me move in and clean we were hoping to get rid of the funky smell that accompanied the apartment. But no luck, I’ve sadly become accustomed to the smell and to be perfectly honest I can no longer smell it. I know that is BAD BAD news.

 Kelly on the other hand is still keenly aware of the dead and decaying carcus that has apparently been stuffed down our drying room drain and is slowly but surely rotting away at an alarmingly slow rate. 

Nothing says STINK like a dirty drain.

Any suggestions as to how we can rid ourselves of the smell would be greatly appreciated. Then perhaps we can invite guests over with a clean conscience, heavens knows that is certainly not the current case. I’ve started disposing all cleaning water down that drain and generous amounts of bleach which hides the smell for a day or two.

Unfortunately this sentence has become all to common around here. The only reasonable response seems to be “…okay just give it some time, and cross your fingers it will  fix itself.” So far, time has always worked. How much time, varies.

My mother can attest to the fact that I can be a real pill to live with, I demand a lot of my co-inhabitants and want everything working and my way. I really am a much more pleasant person to live with when I am not in the United States. I think it is from my misconception that if I’m in the US everything should be in perfect working order and things are always suppose to be peaches and cream. Something to do with a high standard of living and all that. Outside the US on the other hand, well lets just say I understand the standard of living isn’t always going to be the equivalent. I’m still learning, but have at least grasped the concept of rolling with the punches here in China.

If there is one thing I’ve come to appreciate most it is the fact that of all the Foreigners’ apartments in Weifang, I’ve scored the best I’ve seen. So what if the toilet refuses to flush every now and then or the shower water consistently empties itself for no apparent reason at least the bathroom doesn’t look like a toxic waste dump.

So as usual, just give the toilet time, I’m sure it will fix it self.

Well its done. The heat has been turned off. I knew April 5th was WAY to good to be true. When I awoke this morning my room was not as toasty as usual. I leaned over to the radiator and my heart sank as my hand grasped the reality of the cold metal.

At least the weather has take a turn for the better but no promises it will last. A projected cold spell is to hit this weekend. So now the windows have all been shut and I’m refusing to let Kelly open any for air flow. I’d rather have a stuffy house than a cold one.

I must admit once the radiators were turned on this winter I was completelyspoiled. I didn’t realize how much until I returned home to the States and was painfully remained that during winter back home I still had to bundle as my father’s idea of a toasty house was 76*. Here in China my apartment was so hot I wore shorts and t-shirts all winter inside with my window cracked at night. So the heat was wonderful while it lasted and in about a month I will have it full blast once again.

So yes for right now I should enjoy the rather cool weather because come summer when the temperature rises at the same rate as the humidity I will be reminiscing of the cold spells.

This evening Peter and Wendy came over and cooked a delicious meal! I’d been telling Kelly about Peter’s amazing cooking when we went out to dinner last week and Wendy volunteer for an encore!

My two favorite Chefs!

They came around 6 and insisted we just sit back a relaxed, Wendy would come ask for help if they needed anything. Kelly and I waited in the offices as tantalizing smells drifted in from the kitchen.  My mouth was watering by the time Wendy announced dinner!

The dishes included (clockwise) top, 100 year eggs, potato slices (my fav), tomatoes and eggs (another fav), yam slices and the final dish a sliced onion dish.

100 Year Eggs - about as delicious as they sound.

Peter knew my two favorite dishes, Tomatoes and Eggs and Sliced Potatoes! I must admit I did miss good Chinese while I was back in the States, not so much the above dish.

Dinner was most enjoyable as usual. Peter and Wendy are always a pleasure to spend time with. Peter’s English pronunciation is getting really good. I can finally compliment his cooking in complete sentences! After some rather comical stumbles we agreed that our language skills are about even. Although I still think his English is a little better.

I don’t know what I would do without those two!