I’ve been trying to get settled into my new place.  Shopping in China presents some challenges.  For example, if you buy something you have to be able to get it home.  We take our vehicles for granted in the US.  If I go grocery shopping in the US, my groceries just have to fit in my car. That’s easy, right?  Here, if I want to get groceries, whatever I buy needs to be small enough to be carried in some way on my bike.  This makes a person much more creative.  I’m forced to think of new and interesting ways to strap stuff to my bike (which, by the way, currenly only has front brakes) and try to balance on my way home. 

I’ve been discovering my new neighborhood and found a METRO, which is similar to Sam’s Club in physical size and warehouse style, but with much less stuff…  I spent a good hour wandering around the METRO searching for things I need for my apartment…keeping in mind that whatever I buy here I have to carry home on my bike.  After shopping for a few (random) items, I loaded up my bag and hung it from one handle bar of my bike. (This causes balance issues…)  Sometimes, if my items are too big, I’ll take a taxi. 

After getting home, I decided it was a good time to wash some of the rugs that have been sitting on the floor all summer and try out my washer also.  This “adventure” took way longer than it needed to due to some language difficulties.  The instructions on my (front-load) washer are all in Chinese.  You’re probably thinking, “she doesn’t know how to use a washer?”  I know. Pathetic, right. 🙂  I spent a good 15 minutes translating the characters for each of the 10 settings.  Then, I figured out that there were really only two different “settings” and that each of the 5 parts was just a cycle in that setting.  Great!  I turned the knob to the correct setting, added the detergent and voila!  Piece of cake, right?  Well….

I decided that it was a good idea to check on the washer periodically (like every 2-3 minutes) to see if things were going the way they were supposed to.  After a couple ‘checks’ I discovered that there was water all over my bathroom floor.  (Now, this in itself is not uncommon for this country.  A person’s showerhead is usually directly over his/her sink/toilet so a wet floor is commonplace.)  My water on my bathroom floor was not.  Isn’t there supposed to be a tube that connects the washer to some sort of drain?  Nope. My drain is now my bathroom floor.  We’ll see if I can get this one fixed… A little while later, the washer is on the spin cycle and it is LOUD. I mean, I’m wondering if my neighbors are concerned about me.  The machine was literally jumping around.  (no wonder it is tied to a pipe with a piece of STRING… good grief. 🙂  So, yes people, the best way for me to keep my washer quiet (and in one place) is to sit on it during the spin cycle. I may get a lot of reading done and not much else…

Today, (Monday) I went to my ‘first’ Chinese class.  I was successful this time because I was up really early and left my apartment really early.  Actually, I left early so that I could Skype with my niece at a location that has internet.  I got to a little coffee shop, ordered my coffee and proceeded to not get online because they eliminated their internet.  🙁  That’s not cool.  I didn’t really have any qualms about taking my coffee with me and heading out to find a different internet place.  I walked to the new place and ordered a pastry and sat down to get online.  The man gave me the ‘password’ that didn’t work.  Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!  It took this man 30 minutes to attempt to solve this problem. I was very annoyed.  I finally got online and had to tell my niece that I was unable to chat with her because I had to go to class. 

I found my classroom and looked over the first two lessons (because that’s what the lady at the counter told me the class got through the first week–the week that I missed).  The teacher came in and proceeded to ask me some questions in mixed Chinese-English.  The other four students came in and class began.  The class was just beginning lesson two, which I was thankful for. I can understand a lot more if I know the context of the conversation.  I would say that I understood about 70-80% of the class.  This isn’t too bad and will definitely be a challenge for me.  There is one woman in the class who is pretty good but the other three are very close to the same level as me. 🙂  I’m planning to enjoy it a lot! 🙂  Each 90 minute class is 30元， if you pay for at least 10.  So, my first two weeks of class costs me $47.  🙂

So, here I am, after my class enjoying lunch before I go to the bank and get on the bus back home.  I have much unpacking to do and a book to read while I wash some clothes.  Until next time…