There appears to be no fixed time for noise to stop at night
or to start in the morning. There is a
building remodeling project going on night outside my bedroom window. The man (I am assuming it is a man) is
cutting metal until about 8:30 pm. I had
to close my bedroom window in order to shut him out a little. Luckily, by the
time I get into bed, he has stopped—usually about 9:15 pm. It is now about 5:31 am on July 4 (China
Time) and he has not yet started his work.
I hear some other noises though—someone is spitting again, people
talking, cars honking because they are being blocked by another car.
Spitting in China has been reduced since the authorities ban
it. The older people tend to spit more
than the younger ones. However, enough
of it goes on that the foreigners complain about it all the time. Okay, enough about foreigners’ complains (I
am not sure why they are in China when they are not happy with what they are
experiencing).
Here are a little more about my apartment. I have a small radiant-heat stove, a
microwave and a small refrigerator. Last
year I bought a small rice cooker and a crockpot from another foreign teacher
who was returning to Canada. This year I
bought a toaster oven from Taobao, China’s equivalent to Amazon.com.
 |
| My kitchenware |
If
you need something that you cannot find in the stores here, you go to
Taobao. Actually it is more convenient
to buy things online because often there are no shipping charges. You also do not have to get a taxi home with
your purchases. It is difficult this
year to get taxis because of the road constructions. Besides, you may have to struggle with the
size of your packages. When you order
online, the packages come to campus in a van, and the driver calls you to
collect your purchases. You can also
track your orders online and figure out when they would arrive. Alibaba, the big internet company in China,
has a vast logistics project that will deliver packages in rural China within
24 hours. This logistics project is
supposed to be completed in five years (?). I will have to do more research on this for you. My doctoral professor used to tell me not to be "preachy" and I am trying very hard to post rational, unbiased news about my stay. However, it is very difficult when I have to listen to foreigners, who do not understand China, give their opinions. However, sometimes the Chinese themselves do not understand what is happening to China right now.
Today is July 4th and Canada Day was July 1st. Some of us ladies are hosting a combined celebration at 1:00 pm with a potluck. Everyone has to bring their own plate, cup or glass and silverware. That way we do not have to buy paper cups and plates, and, therefore, will not create any unnecessary trash. At first, we wanted to do a BBQ but that was too much hassle. We do not have a grill and we would have to buy charcoal, yah de yah dah.... I have a class at 8 am and so I have to go now.
Happy July 4th celebration.
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