Sleep doesn't come easy, or does it?

How well can you sleep when you're staying here?

The commodities

Precious commodities such as cheese need to be taken serious in China.

Cheese is very hard to come by around here and it doesn't always taste good. I travelled to the capital city of my province to buy cheese at a German import store called Metro. It's like German Walmart. They have Walmart here, too, but instead of hillbillies they have rich Chinese wannabes who think it's "cool" to shop at Walmart. Most Americans I know are trying to avoid Walmart, but these people are dying to see it. Go figure.

So I went to Metro and bought a 10lb block of white cheddar from Ireland. It was the smallest size they had to offer, if you can believe it. I actually was hoping that the 15lb block of mozzarella I saw last time was still there, but I was out of luck. I got it home and sliced it open and let me tell you... DAMN it's good. It's sharp cheddar, too. Nice. Atari's gonna be eating some potato cheddar soup this winter, I figure. It's gonna take forever to eat 10lbs of cheese, though.

I also bought 10lbs of pinto beans because a Mexican's gotta have beans. Even a Progressive Mexican can't escape his destiny.

I always forget a title

I fear that China may be turning my creative juices in to rancid mud.

I haven't been able to make anything even remotely creative since I got here. I feel like I have no muse at all. Not even my usual creative fuel, coffee, is helping. I hope this drought doesn't last long... I only have 4 weeks of vacation left before I gotta go back to mind-numbing teaching again.

In other news: I'm off to Wuhan tomorrow to buy some foreign groceries. It's damn expensive, but a little slice of home is worth it. Perhaps a few new comforts of home will give me some creative insights.

The saga continues

I went out and bought a new fridge today.

I looked at several models at a few different stores. There are a lot of fridge companies here, but I don't trust Chinese brand electronics or appliances. Not even the Chinese people do. The only company that can be taken seriously is the company Haier, which is really popular and their products are very well made.

I looked at a Haier fridge that was really well priced, but the rep didn't want to have anyone help me take it to my house today. She said that I could pay for it today and come back the next day or the day after to see if anyone could help out. Yeah, I totally trust this lady. My friend bought the same model fridge from her and had it delivered within hours...

Then I went to a different store. There were many more to choose from, but they were all a little expensive. I was immediately drawn to the foreign section. The only brands they sold were a company from Korea that I didn't recognize and one from Germany: Siemens. Siemens is actually a really awesome manufacturer, so I decided to get one. I couldn't decide between two models: one that was cheaper but a little small and not as efficient, or a bigger more expensive model that was awesome. In the end I pulled out a coin and the rep laughed at me. I politely told her that I was totally serious and I flipped for it. The bigger one won.

I'll finally be able to keep a carton of milk for longer than 4 days without starting to worry if it's going sour. Nice.

Damn it all!

I don't think any of you dear readers know the saga of my refrigerator, but it's a long and painful one.

To make a long story short: I came to China and the fridge in my apartment is 20 yrs old. The lowest temperature it will reach is 65F. I called the repairman and he recharged the CFCs in it (yes, they still use CFCs here). Then it still didn't get lower than 60F. Then, after much harrassing and pumping-of-my-fist-into-the-air, the school relented and got a 'new' fridge for me. The 'new' fridge is actually just a newer, smaller, fridge that they took from another empty apartment. Nice.

That fridge worked well for about 3 weeks, then it died completely. So the school just said "tolerate the old one". Needless to say, I was pretty pissed. I pumped both my fists in anger this time, so they decided to buy me a new one. After 2 weeks they changed their mind and decided instead to just try repairing the 'new' fridge, which has a broken compressor. That was 2 weeks ago. So for the last month I have been using a dinosaur that's old, barely cold, and growing mold on everything.

Well, today it finally gave up the ghost. The freezer is completely melted and everything is just a degree or two below room temperature. I called to see what the school will do, but they just said to call the repairman. Oh, I forgot to mention that the repairman said he was coming over to fix my 'new' fridge three days ago, but never showed up or called back. Yeah, I'm not too happy right now.

So today I am going out with a friend to buy a new fridge with my own cash. This really burns me. I only make 375 dollars a month, but I have to have a working icebox. My new one will set me back about 200 bucks.

God, this country is lame.

Kickin' it for the good times

I'm listening to "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner over and over again in my head.

Today I decided to treat myself to some Pizza Hut downtown. The Pizza Hut is really expensive by Chinese standards, it's about 10 USD for a 12" pizza. Considering that the average Chinese person earns less than 4 dollars a day, that's pretty hefty. Even for me, with my respectable 375 dollars a month, that's a little pricey.

The pizza is always a little light on the tomato sauce, which is very disappointing, but today there was none at all. It was just cheese and bread. Rather than complain and wait another 40 minutes for my pizza I just ate it. Across the way a daring family was trying the octopus and salmon pizza. No joke there. They have the strangest flavors of everything here. Rose soda? Yep. Liquified Corn Juice in a juice box? You betcha. A box of corn juice, which apparently is quite delicious according to my friends, will set you back about 12RMB, which is about $1.50 in the US.

After I came home I decided to eat a little watermelon, since it's in season and dirt cheap. A full size watermelon is about 4RMB, or 50 cents US. I came home and chopped it up, then sat on the porch and enjoyed the sounds of the street below. It's nice and quiet right now because all the students have gone home for the summer. However, the vegetable market is still in full swing every morning. Peh.

The surprise I promised is in the photo. See if you can guess what it is!

Fresh watermelon is so damn good.

Everything in it's place

My apartment is really trashed.

Today I looked around and realized that there is stuff everywhere. Paper, boxes, plastic bags, empty water bottles, etc. I really should stop being lazy and clean it, but what fun is that?

I have a secret. It's a good secret. I'll share it with everyone soon.

If you think this blog smells like garlic and chilis, then I've done my job.

I'd been working pretty hard the past few months. It may not seem like hard work to teach, but when you have to say the same thing 5 times to make someone understand even the most basic English sentence it can get pretty tiring for the brain. I've been coming home and I just want to sit on the couch and watch The Simpsons.

Now, however, it's over. Well, at least for the next 6 weeks. During this time I plan on learning how to use my pen tablet for my computer. I've been wanting to put the time into it that it really deserves. I hope to be posting a lot of my pictures on this blog. I'll also be posting my pictures from China to show everyone what it looks like out here.