The Diaries

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March 3, 2009

My First Week Continued...

Posted by Kelly

My first squatty potty experience happened today. At my place of employment there are no Western toilets to be had. It went OK. Next time I have to remember toilet paper!

There is a common lunch hall that feeds many different companies. I was warned that they food might be really bad, but it wasn’t awful. Lots of rice, meat with lots of bones, tofu, etc. It filled me up. I’m looking forward to some dumplings tonight. I have a package of frozen ones, so I think all I need to put them in boiling water and wait till they raise to the top.. Maybe I should google this before I try it. I would hate to go hungry tonight. I would read the instructions, but they are in Chinese characters. So no luck there!

I am still trying to recover from my lack of sleep and getting used to the time zone changes. Last night I fell asleep around 8pm and woke up at 3:30am and couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was the uncomfortable bed? Having this experience makes me appreciate my two mattresses and feather bed!

I had another incident today that my parents would refer to a “Blonde Moment”. My door for my apartment locks automatically when it is shut. However, this is not good if you leave your keys inside…. And that’s exactly what I did. I feel really bad. We have to make a special trip to the landlord’s place to pick up a key so I can go to the apartment, get my key, and then return his key. Evian suggested we make a few copies of my key to prevent the problem in the future.

When I got back to my apartment at the end of the work day, I hate to say, I had another “blonde moment”. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to unlock my door. I kept turning and turning the key in all ways possible, but it never unlocked! In my head I was beginning to panic. I know the security guard knows little English and I don’t have a cell phone yet, so to call someone from work would be impossible. Then I was beginning to worry I had the wrong door! Luckily, it finally opened! I decided it was a good idea to practice how to unlock the door a few times. I think I have the hang of it now.

I think my internet should be working by the end of the work day. Evian and I had the internet guy come over to my place and get it hooked up. He was very grumpy and when he couldn’t get it to work, he said it was because of my computer. After he left we fiddled with the cords and I think it should work this afternoon. He also left lots of ashes and the smell of cigarettes in my apartment. Maybe I can find a candle this weekend. I wonder if he would do that in everyone’s apartment or just the “American girl’s place”. Oh well- The breeze from my leaky windows should take care of some of the smell.