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The next adventure of the day: The apartment As has been written earlier, this is a new campus, and contrary to what I had been told previously, it has actually been functioning here for one full school year. The building that the apartments are in is 10 stories tall, (fortunately, serviced by an elevator) but was originally designed as a dormitory, rather than specifically as an apartment block. Dormitory rooms here are designed to house 6 students each. Each room is approximately 20' long by 10' wide, plus a separate section for toilet facilities at one end of the room. At the other end of the room is an open balcony, which also has a sink. It is on the balcony that the Chinese students do their laundry, hand it up to dry, and at times, do a bit of socializing. The toilet facilities are quite basic - a "squat pan" (toilet recessed into the floor that one squats over to do their business) and a shower combined. There is also a sink and mirror, and a wardrobe for students to hang their clothes in. So, how do you squeeze 6 students into an area this small and allow for beds and desks for them to do their homework at? The solution is quite simple really, yet alien to Western standards. Along each wall, you will have three desks and chairs. In front of each desk you have connections for broadband Internet and television as well as 2 electrical receptacles. Above the desks are the beds - three on each side. Above the beds are also electrical receptacles. The six students will live together like this for their entire under graduate University career, which means that compatibility must be learned fairly quickly or the experience can be quite miserable. A room this size would house two - or at most - three students in the US or other Western countries. Conversely, just for comparison, a prison could house 18 people in a room this size. The question then is: How do you take a dorm room and turn it into a one bedroom apartment. The solution is quite simple - combine two dorm rooms together - which means simply put a door in between the two rooms. Kitchen area? Quite simple again. Enclose the balcony with sliding windows and screens, and on one balcony, off from the living room, you have a kitchen. What you end up with then is actually a one bedroom, two bath apartment. The bath in the bedroom side is a western style toilet with a separate shower. In the living room side, they converted the shower into a laundry room, by placing a washing machine there. The conversion from dorm room to an apartment is all new. That means everything in the apartment is brand spanking new. Entering the apartment, this is what I was greeted with:
The furnishings are quite basic: a television, a wooden bench, coffee table, eating table, 5 chars, one large desk, one computer desk (don't quite understand the logic there, but I am sure there is some, someplace) refrigerator, double bed - queen size at best - and 2 night stands. Some basic kitchen things - a couple, three pots, rice cooker (essential in Asia) microwave, 20 piece dish set, a knife set, and a few miscellaneous items. In short, the furnishings are adequate, and meet Asian standards. Nothing fancy, but very usable. At least all of the furniture is solid and sturdy - all made from solid wood. Day 1 of the adventure continued: So, back in the room, finally, time to unpack things and get settled in. It wasn't long before I noticed that there wasn't any drinking water in the room. In fact, nothing to drink at all. It is now almost 9:00 PM - and not knowing when the local stores closed here on campus, decided that a quick trip to the shops was in order. I alerted the two other teachers to the lack of something to drink - something that they hadn't noticed yet. So, off to the store we go. Whilst there, it dawns on us that there weren't any towels either. The only towels that we could find in the store were slightly bigger than hand towels - but they would suffice until later the next day. Ah-ha! No towels means that there isn't any soap. Have to pick up some soap as well. Naturally - us being well educated people and possessing a substantial amount of logic and the ability to think ahead and plan ahead - none of us thought about buying any toilet paper. That lack of forethought became quite apparent when nature called a bit later. At that point I sorely missed the hose and sprayer that are common fixtures in Thai bathrooms. Time to improvise! About that time, it was time for some noise in the apartment whilst I set about organizing things. Turn on the TV. One channel comes in - BBC World News (a good sign - and so much for the theory that China insulates its people from the rest of the world) - but no sound. Trying to figure out how to rectify the situation is impossible. For some reason, all of the instructions are written in Chinese. This TV obviously was not manufactured for export to another country. Ran into the same problem trying to figure out how to use the remote controls for the air conditioners. Time to make the bed. Surprise! The sheets are just big enough to fully cover the mattress, but damned little left over to tuck in. Ah - the Chinese are quite clever. Sell only what is basically needed and not one centimeter more. A minor inconvenience at best. Time to use the bathroom again. Flush the toilet - and it doesn't flush. A minor thing that is easily fixed. One cannot expect total perfection can one? Just another part of the adventure. The bedroom has two long fluorescent lights in it. Try to turn off one of the lights - and the switch doesn't work. I quickly resolved that I was not going to sleep (or for that matter, be able to sleep) with a bright light on. Option number 1: Remove the light bulb. Problem: The ceiling is approximately 12 feet high. Option number 2: Go and play with the circuit breakers and see what happens. Finally found the one that controlled the ceiling lights. But in the mean time, also turned off the air conditioner trying to find the right circuit breaker. Go and re-educate myself on using the remote control for the air conditioner. Time to check my e-mail. Computer connection is not working. OK - nothing major. Things can wait until tomorrow. With things in reasonable order, I decided that it was time to go to bed. After all, it was about midnight, and the day had been full and fairly interesting. I did have some apprehensions about the next morning as there are no drapes over the windows and door to the balcony. But, I theorized, that it wouldn't be all that bad. Day two of the adventure: The next morning I discovered that the damn sun is damn bright at 5:00 AM. Bright enough to wake a person up. Hell - I am used to going to bed at that time back in Thailand on the odd occasion - and I don't remember the sun being that damned bright! One could argue that I probably don't remember too much on those occasions, but I am not one to discuss a lot of history. Current events are more my style. It became obvious that I was not going to be able to get back to sleep, so I decide that it is time for a cup of tea. I had some tea bags already, so all that I would have to do is heat up some water, pour it into a cup and presto, I would have my morning tea. Problem: In the 20 piece dish set there isn't a single cup. It is basically, 1 large bowl, two smaller bowls, 4 even smaller bowls and 2 even smaller bowls. And, of course, 11 spoons. One simply cannot sip hot tea from a bowl - you have to have a handle. I tried it any way - and basically, wasted one tea bag. By the time it was cool enough to handle the bowl, the tea was fairly tepid. And no, I was not about to sip my tea from a spoon. That takes too much concentration at 5:30 in the morning. OK - need to wait until the store opens again, so I do a few other things here and there. At about 7:30 I decide that I will take a shower, and then either go to the shop or alternatively, go to the cafeteria which is conveniently located right next to the apartments. Turn on the water. Problem: There is no hot water. Plenty of cold water, but no hot water. I check all of the water valves. They are on. Simply is no hot water. I suck it up and dash into the cold water shower - after all, I do have to try out that bar of soap and the two fine towels that I had bought the night before. All three items worked fine. At least something was going according to plan and expectations. About that time, it was obvious that the other teachers (only three of us in the building at that time) had been up and stirring since about 5:00 as well. So, at 8:00 we decided to roam around the campus and do a fact finding mission. Perhaps a bit of breakfast? A trip into the cafeteria - three floors of cafeteria in one building and 2 floors of cafeteria in another building - we discover that all transactions are electronic. One must, we assume, have a debit type card to use in the cafeteria. No one to ask because once again, everyone speaks Chinese. Where in the hell is my "assistant?" Do I dare call her and start asking a lot of questions which will only result in confused answers? No, I shall discover things on my own. After wandering around for about an hour and a half we decide that the best option that we have is to go to the Lotus Center (a big store similar to Tesco or Wal-Mart back in the states). I know that there is a KFC at the Center - so that will take care of breakfast. How to get there? Simple, walk about 2 km. to the main gate and try to get a taxi. I remind myself that this "shoe leather express" is getting rather tiresome, despite how good it is supposed to be for my health. That mode of transport in 90% humidity is not an ideal form of transport. Resolving the ravages caused by excessive perspiration with another cold shower is not all that appealing either. After breakfast at Lotus, it is shopping time. Have to stock up on some essential things: toilet paper, proper bath towels, (certainly the hot water situation will be resolved once we bring it to their attention), cleaning supplies, water, waste baskets, etc. etc. Essential things that will be needed. Since we would be using a taxi - buy as much as you can as the transportation problem is not going to be a problem. So the three of us buy all that is necessary, and fill up the taxi. To buy all of the basics - or most of them at least - is only about 500 Yuan so not a problem. Whilst at Lotus, Jessie and I look at the electric bikes. Prices range from 1,800 to 3,000 Yuan. Surprisingly, we can test drive them right there in the store - up and down the aisles, much to the delight of the store employees. (Only in China!) It gave them a chance to also "play" a bit. I tentatively decide which one I will buy - the most expensive one, simply because it is the only one that has a big enough motor and strong enough battery to move me from point A to point B in a reasonable fashion. Being a large person in Asia often means that one is forced to spend more money to get the proper service from certain articles and items. We head back to the apartments with all of our purchases and set about doing a bit of cleaning and organizing. Of the three, I am the only one that has a telephone (which I brought with me from Thailand - the others are fresh from America so they have to invest in that item yet) which means that I am being called by different advisors and assistants for the other two - so I become a bit of a messenger and my phone gets passed around quite a bit. Still, I am able to squeeze in a bit of a nap. My feet are sore - the result of having bought some Asian shoes whilst in Thailand. Shoes in Asia appear to be without too much arch support, and I fear that my feet are getting a bit flatter as time goes on. So, upon waking from my nap and evaluating how far I am going to have to walk each day - about 4 km or so to and from classes - and realizing that my feet are still sore, I make the rash decision to immediately go back to Lotus and buy myself an electric bicycle. Reality has set in. Humidity and walking do not go hand in hand. And, I have heard that it gets nastily cold here in the winter - negative 18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit) - and it is a wet cold due to the proximity to the sea and all of the rivers in the area. So, back to walking to the main gate to get a cab to go to Lotus. Catch a cab and get to Lotus. Look at all of the bikes again - and decide that the 3,000 Yuan model is the only one that makes sense. Now, I don't know if the salespeople get a commission on these big items - and I kind of doubt it because no one put their name on the purchase - but all 5 sales people in that department were excited that someone was buying such a bike. They all were smiling, laughing and talking and running about getting the bike ready to go. Checking everything on the bike - air pressure in the tires. Making sure that everything works. Showing me everything. At times I actually thought that they were showing each other how everything worked because one person would start showing me and another one would push that one out of the way, and start showing me again. It was like watching a bunch of monkeys all clamoring over and around something shiny. Touching. Picking. Rubbing. Yes, true monkey behavior. They wheel the bike out the front entrance and almost reluctantly hand it over to me. Didn't really see any tears, but I thought for a moment that I might. Then, I am on the bike and learning very quickly that this is nothing like any other bike that I have ridden in recent memory. Even though it looks like a 125 cc motorbike in Thailand, that I was experienced in riding, this one is not. It only weights about 120 pounds, and has much smaller wheels. The engineering is actually quite good from what I can determine. The front brake will slow the bike down, but it will not stop it completely. That I am thankful for, and I remember the disaster of a front brake that can stop a bike quickly: The front stops moving and the back keeps moving, thus throwing the rider off the bike, and resulting in a broken wrist - such was my experience with that in Thailand. On a bike, I am used to letting off on the throttle, and the bike slows down quickly. Not so with an electric bike. It slows down slowly, thus making use of the breaks mandatory. I am also used to quick acceleration. Not with this one. Come up to a stop light and there is total silence. Hard to get used to. Totally alien after riding a petrol motorized bike for so long. Still, it is nice to have some transportation independence again after having relied upon taxis for the past 2 months. It is nice to be able to go where I want to, when I want to, and not have to shell out money for the privilege or ability to do so. It will also beat having to walk for 20 minutes to get to happy hour and dodging bicycles, motorcycles and cars. Now I am one of them that everyone else has to watch out for! Ah, life is indeed great. I get back to the apartments and soon after arriving, the International Liaison shows up. Her visit is welcomed by all, for now we can hopefully get a few outstanding issues resolved. Issue number 1: Television. Her initial answer was that we would have some English speaking programs, but they probably would not be available until November. After all, she reminds us, this is a new development / project, and things take time. A disappointment, but not too much that can done about it. Fortunately later, someone showed up that knew how to program the TVs and I ended up with BBC, CNN and one sports channel - all with sound. Issue number 2: No hot water. This is an issue that is going to take a bit of time to resolve. Apparently, the hot water is turned on only two times a day - noon until 2:00 and 6:00 until 10:00. The reason: If Chinese students can take a hot shower first thing in the morning, they will do so, and then a large percentage of them will simply go back to bed, thus missing their morning classes. Fortunately, Julia (the International Liaison) understands that we are not Chinese students, and she gave the impression that this situation is not one that she would tolerate either if she was a teacher. So, something may be done in the future - but it will take a bit of reminding. Issue number 3: Internet access. Julia tries to get access. She is unable to do it with one of other teacher's computers. We tell her that the reason there is no access is because there is no signal coming through to the computer. She calls the network administrator / technician. He tells her that there has to be something wrong with everyone's computer, and tells her to start checking different things. Still, nothing works, so he says that he will be over in 10 minutes. I figure that it will be closer to 30 minutes. Turned out to be 20 minutes. T.I.C. He can't quite figure it all out, so he calls over another technician. Together they finally decide that the problem is that no one is getting a signal. They go and flip a couple of switches, and presto, everyone has internet access. Unfortunately, the service is not 100% reliable - and will suddenly disappear. Oh well - it is for free... Moral of the story: As in the western world, never look at the obvious problem - always blame the user's computer first and spend 30 minutes playing with that computer before looking for the obvious problem. The computer technician is the one that finally was able to program the televisions to get at least three channels. This is progress! Issue number 4: Drapes in the bedroom. Julia reminds me that her office was not involved in the renovations, so therefore, it really isn't her responsibility. However, she can see the need for the drapes, and she does make a phone call. Soon, she says they will be installed. I jokingly asked if we could expect it by New Years. She assured me that it should be before then. Issue number 5: Electrical problems. Again, another phone call is made, and apparently workmen will show up tomorrow - sometime - to make the repairs. As it turned out, they did show up, and look at things. Four hours later, they showed up again to do the work. Progress does happen - but it is often slow. It only took 4 people to fix the problems - at least that is how many showed up! That's about it for this edition. More will follow, I am sure. This is a whole different world for the Old Codger. The Old Codger
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