Logistics

My apartment is so big, I can't say this enough. I found a closet in my bedroom today that I never knew I had. Woah.

I have a new friend, he needs a name. He's a gigantic bug. I think he's a cross between a beetle and a spider. I don't know how he got in, but he lives on my living room window, and as long as he stays there, we're going to get along just fine :)

Mandatory firework photo. There are always fireworks going off. ALWAYS. These ones we set off for the 4 person birthday party. They exploded about 5 seconds apart and I was so skiddish, I jumped everytime.







Everyone has an IE. That's what I'm calling them. In Mandarin it literally translates to "aunt" but the position is actually more like nanny or maid. But when people say the word, it sounds like they're just abbreviating Internet Explorer. I can't imagine needing a maid to pick up after just me, though maybe I'll hire one just to teach me how to clean (I can't read the the labels to remember all the cleaning products I bought!)

Utilities: I have mini credit cards for my Hot and Cold Water (separate I think) and Gas Stoves. When the water doesn't come out one day, I can swipe my card on the water meter on the landing outside my apartment for a 3 day emergency supply, then I have to go reload the card at the store. Same goes for the Gas Stove. Electricity I haven't figured out yet. My culligan water thingy I have to order once it gets low. I guess an IE might order it for me, which would be nice because English is still very much my primary language. It all makes sense now. TJ pointed out the hot and cold water meters to me on my first day, and his face told me it was very important. But I was still thinking, why would I need to know where the water meter is?!?!?!

First solo grocery shopping trip to RT Mart:
- The grocery store is an assembly line. You enter and immediately go up an escalator ramp. The isles are set up to go through the whole upper floor before you reach a different escalator back to the main floor. Then in the back of the main floor you finally reach the check out. After check out you're let out into a mall at a completely different point from which you entered.
- A little boy was chattering away to his dad as they passed me. The boy must have been seriously distracted because just as he's passing me, out of the corner of my eye I see his whole body stop, I hear his voice stop, and his mouth just drops. I'm not sure how long he stood there staring at me.
- At check out I was prepared for all of the questions and the order they would come in. The, "Do you have an RT Mart card?" I shook my head. The "Would you like to pay for a bag?" I showed her the grocery bag I brought with me. The "How will you be paying for this?" I gave her my fancy Wall of China credit card. She was giggling at me. I could tell she knew I couldn't understand what she was saying, but that I just knew the process. What I did not expect while she was ringing everything up was for her to ask me a question and hold up the sack of oranges. I shrugged my shoulders. I got no oranges. I later learned there is a person in the fruit department that weighs them and puts the price tag on them before checkout.

It is still sooooo hot! I thought we were having our cold snap, just like the rest of you, but no. It's still hot enough for the a/c, though I stoutly refuse to use any of the 4 in my apartment (partly because I don't know how to work the remotes to run them and partly because I'm anti a/c). I'm ready for winter :) I want to bundle up in some scarves, fuzzy socks, and blankets.

Quiz Night! Ariana is our quiz master and she hosts a bimonthly international trivia night at Cup Of Joe's for 20 rmb. Dana, Torsten and I formed a team. Dana and I expected to get 4 questions right between the two of us, but Torsten (from Germany) pulled through and we got 25/30 and won the pot! The losing team gets french fries ... the others, well, try again next time!

Friends at the pig roast for 4 person birthday party. Liz, Julie, Ariana, Dana, Erich and Torsten. EVERY foreigner within a 20 mile radius was there :) All of our school families were there so it felt like one big school party. Except my favorite part was probably the guys who brought the blue culligan jug full of homemade sangria!


On Friday I saved one of the milk/yogurt boxes that one of the kids took but never opened at lunch. Later at snack time, it was up for grabs but I forgot to grab the straw that normally pokes through the lid. When I peeled the top off for one of my students to drink it, (which they're not used to), he went off on me in Korean, pointing at the lid. It took me a moment, but then I realized his babbling must be international kid language for, "I would like to lick off the lid". Sure enough when I held it back out to him instead of throwing it in the garbage, he stuck his tongue out excitedly. See? We can communicate just fine!