Thursday, September 30, 2010

A China Month

Ok, maybe it is just the rain but it seems like we are not wanted here. We couldn't find an apartment that we could afford, and had to move out of our present apartment. My phone got stolen, Frank's scooter got stolen 6 days after we bought it, we had to pay double what we expected to move and a host of other little things. To top it off, just the other night, Frank's second scooter got heisted! From a paid parking area! You can imagine Frank's anger and frustration! While waiting for the cops, he decided to look around like we did the last time, if only for his peace of mind. You have to try. He found them! Two guys in an alley were picking his lock. They denied everything, standing in front of his bike and then started to take off. Frank caught one, they were small, and held him while sitting on his scooter until the cops arrived. The guy running the ting che or parking area had to be in on it because the only way they could have stolen it was to pick it up and carry it out the entrance, under his nose. Frank got home at 2am. I was begging for just a little help, a break. I am so grateful that he got his bike back. We are determined to stick it out though. Usually when things go wrong, it is because you are doing what you are supposed to, right?

mandy

Hearing VS. Listening

My language skills have improved to the point that I can recognize when people are talking about me behind my back, I'm just not sure what they are saying exactly. Now when I am in public, instead of being in a bubble of ignorance, my brain struggles to translate what is happening around me. The danger is when you try to respond to something you've "heard". Be sure you also got the sense of it (listened) before you speak or you may embarrass yourself. I came close to this the other day but survived since I kept my mouth shut. I was walking down the street with a friend when I overheard a mother talking to her daughter just behind us. I heard "美奴鸡蛋吃“(meinu jidan chi) which is bad grammar for 'beautiful women eat eggs.' I asked my friend if that was a Chinese Proverb or some wise saying, thinking I could use it to start a conversation. She said, " I think she was just telling her daughter to get in the car, 上车(shang che)。Yeah, it's a work in progress.

mandy

A Moving Tale

We are encouraged so often to simplify, simplify, simplify. I thought selling everything we owned and moving across the globe meant we had that covered. Would you believe it took two moving trucks to get our stuff transplanted? They didn't pack the first truck very well but even then we had more stuff than room allowed. Where did it come from? I guess even in our situation, you have to be careful with accumulating things. Those poor moving guys. At least the first apartment had an elevator. They carried everything up 6 flights to the apartment only to be told it all went upstairs on the second floor of the apartment. Even the washing machine which weighs about the same as a small elephant! A little Chinese dude strapped it to his back and away he went. I wonder what they thought about my clear rubbermaid container of dirt. Foreigners are so wierd! Hey it is homemade, organic compost! They told us we had too much stuff, but I have seen Chinese apartments and we have less than half what they do. They just get to buy the apartment and not move every year. I will be selling a bed, the futon and the washing machine before we move again in a few months. We have moved to the other side of our city so we will start exploring again. When it stops raining. It has rained every day this week and all day long. It stinks since my mood is affected by the weather. I have had time to do some crocheting though. When I have internet access for more than an hour or two at a time, I will post pics of our present accomodations. I remembered my plants this time and they are sitting on the balcony in the rain. The apartment is about 200 square meters which I think is about 1800 square feet. Nope, just googled it, 2152.758 square feet!! It is a massive place which is why living together with another couple is not so bad. Plus we like them. There are two floors both with bathrooms. Ours has a tub with jacuzzi jets that we haven't used yet. The jets that is. Our floor is basically the loft of the building so the rooms have angle ceilings and windows that follow the slant of the roof. That means no opening windows if it will rain. I forgot this rule the other day and left the house with them all open. I didn't know it would rain. It poured, into the rooms. Our bed and the futon were soaked. My vacuum did too and I haven't turned it on to check the damage. I don't learn fast apparently, because the rain let up and since it was so hot and muggy, I opened them up again, just a crack. It hit me later and I screamed for Frank to HELP!!!! No damage that time. I bet you can picture the look on Frank's face as he came back down. You know, the cocked head, all knowing eyes and the face that says, "Babe, you know better but why did you open them agai? Crazy woman." Yep, that's me!

Annnnnnd......We're Back!

I don't know how long this will last but right now I have access to blogger so all my posts will be on both sites. There may be more pics here though since Blogger rocks!!! Stay tuned!...

mandy