Miscellaneous Part 4 (Average, Ordinary, Everyday Craziness)

China is a country in the throes of development. Here in Taian, things are just getting going and it gives me many occasions to laugh. Trevor and I went to a place near the apartment complex to get something to eat. There was nothing extraordinary about this place—not too fancy, not the biggest dump here—just your average restaurant. Like many of the restaurants here, dining is done in a private room but unlike in some places where we go with a big group that give us our own room, this place has booths with a curtain. As we are talking, I look around the booth and notice how dirty the walls are. Fifty or so years of grubby hands and God knows what else smeared all over it. The second thing I notice is how ugly the lamp on the wall is. The third thing I notice is that the curtain for the booth is similar to the car seat-covers I have seen: pink, lacy, embroidered with flowers. It is such a mish-mash, juxtaposed collection that is so China!

I mentioned in a post shortly after I arrived that I had a solar heater for hot water. When I returned from Greece, I found that the pipes (or something) were broken because I would send the water up to the heater but it wouldn’t hold it; the water leaked down the walls and onto the floor in my bathroom. I called my go-to guy for issues with my apartment and he came and took a look. I got no assessment of what was wrong or when it would be fixed so after a couple weeks went by I inquired again. This time, he brought the owner of the apartment and they both looked around; again, no assessment, no information about fixing it. Yesterday, I found out that the owner has decided that the problem (whatever it might be) would be too expensive to fix so I must go without hot running water (though I still have the electric heater for my shower). I had never learned this before but apparently, hot water doesn’t exist here—its not considered a necessity—so unless a person has a solar heater or an electric heater, boiling water is the only option.

I’m also waiting for the heat to be turned on in my apartment. It has been getting colder here, often dipping below freezing at night but the heat in buildings is not controlled by thermostats in rooms. Heat is all state controlled. My heat was supposed to come on the day before yesterday but it has yet to be turned up. So for now, whenever I’m home, I’m usually wearing my sweats under my robe, some thick socks and my slippers, and I sit at my computer curled under a blanket. This way, the only part of me that is cold is the hand on the mouse.

The heat is not on at the school, either. This is not really a problem in the classrooms because they place them all on the side of the building that gets sun in the afternoon and there are 60 or more bodies to keep the room warm. My office, on the other hand, is not populated nor on the sunny side of the building so it was freezing. It didn’t really bother me too much because I didn’t spend too much time there and I figured I would just have to wait till they turned the heat on because the radiator was right next to my desk but they had other ideas. On Thursday, they had me move all my stuff, and they moved all the furniture to the fifth floor so the office would be on the other side of the building. I have to say, I’m not really thrilled about having an office on the fifth floor!

Over the summer, my assistant got married. I, unfortunately, missed the ceremony because the people I was riding with to get there got lost but like in America, it is popular to have a film of the wedding made and I borrowed the DVD so I could see it. It was very shocking, but perhaps unsurprisingly so. The first part was Ricky and Janet at the park before their wedding day, running through the field, him pushing her on the swing, that sort of stuff. The next section showed pictures taken at a studio where they would dress up in different outfits and be put in different scenes like dressed as private-school children at a subway station or dressed like they were going to Hawaii on a boat. The day of the wedding had some interesting rituals. They greeted each other’s families like we have a receiving line but they gave and lit a cigarette for each person. Perhaps the most shocking thing, however, was during the ceremony, Ricky’s cell phone rang (he had it in his pocket) and he answered it!! It is true that there is no cell phone etiquette here but I couldn’t believe he paused in his own wedding to answer the phone! (Actually, I think it was us telling him we were lost.)

There are three parts to the following video. The first is a refreshing hint of culture. Every night during the summer, some musicians would play at the park entrance and women would come with fans (some in traditional outfits) and do a dance-like walk. I think it was mostly for exercise. Trevor called it the senior citizens dance club. The second part of the film is a shot of the restaurant I described above. I had to go back with my camera so you can see what I’m talking about! The third part took place earlier this week. Whenever someone of importance dies, there is this really depressing music playing. It will play all day. Then, at night, we get an even more depressing song. I only caught a little bit of it but you’ll understand. Lucky us, someone of importance dies once every two or three weeks.