Settling In

I've been in China for almost one week, and I'm finally starting to feel comfortable. My apartment feels lived in, despite the fact that it's actually a hotel room. There is a maid that comes to my room every day to make my bed and sterilize my toilet, which I'm glad about because I hate unsterilized toilets. Besides that, I'm in charge of keeping the place clean myself, like keeping things organized and doing the dishes.

My living room is comfortably furnished with a couch, another chair, and a TV. There are two English channels, HBO and Star Movies. Star Movies plays the most obscure American movies, and it's been rather amusing seeing what manage to find in the bargain bin. Right now Red Sonja circa 1985 is playing, starring Arnold the Governator and Brigitte Nielsen. I'm so glad the Chinese get to see that side of American culture.




The living room opens up to my kitchen, which is rather modest but sufficient for my needs. I have a small fridge that is filled with water that has been boiled (the water from the tap is filled with "poison") and peach nectar. Not juice, nectar. There is also a microwave, a toaster oven and a hot plate that I have yet to figure out how to work. Some Whitties from last year left us some bowls and utensils, which has been very helpful, although there were still some things I had to buy at this amazing store 人人乐 (Ren Ren Le) which translates into Person Person Happy (but more about that in a later post).



My bedroom, besides the bed, has a little sitting area, a dresser, a closet and a vanity. The bed is extremely uncomfortable in that it has no cushion whatsoever. It's like sleeping on the floor. In fact, sleeping on the floor might be better because at least the carpet has a give to it. I'm still giving the bed a try though, in hopes that it will be a cheap alternative to the chiropractor.



The bathroom. We are very lucky to be housed in the foreign teachers' rooms, otherwise the toilet would be no more than a hole in the ground with foot holds on either side. All the public restrooms are like that, and they don't even provide toilet paper. That is my least favorite part of China so far.The paper strip across the toilet in the picture indicates that it has been sterilized. Hooray! Also, the bathroom periodically emits a strange smell kind of like gasoline. When I asked about it, Ma Jing said that it was probably some kind of "poison" and that I should keep the room aired out as much as possible. Okay, I guess, no big deal.


Besides that, I started teaching on Monday, and it went surprisingly well. All the students are very well behaved and eager to learn, but I'll write more about my experiences at the end of the week. In other good news, my lost bag finally arrived in Xi'an. Apparently, it made a side trip to New Delhi before arriving in China. I'm just surprised it made it here at all.