**Before I begin, please notice that there is a new link above called “Video Gallery”, where I have posted and will continue to post videos from my trips. (Also, I’ve posted a bunch of new photos in the “Photo Gallery” section.)**
I woke up this morning to the sound of elephants, followed by a lion roaring in the distance. Despite the fact that I’m in Southwest China, there are no jungles within earshot; rather, it’s my proximity to the zoo that woke me. It’s not always that loud, but every now and then a lion or elephant can be heard mildly in the distance.
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The night I moved in (last Wednesday), I met the agent and his coworker, the landlord and her parents at the apartment. They treated me as a guest in what would soon be my home—asked me to have a seat, handed me a glass of water. The father of the landlord, a very cute old Chinese man, then proceeded to take me through the apartment, showing me every knob and contraption as if I were an alien. I let him have his fun. “These are the light switches,” he said, flicking them on and off to make sure I knew that they controlled the light. “This is the toilet.” He flushed it. “And this,” he began with an excited tone, “this is the television.” I went to press the button on the TV to turn it on, showing him that I knew what was what. “No! You don’t need to do that. You can use this!” He was holding the remote. He then sat down on the couch, and motioned for me to sit next to him, which I did. He showed me that pressing the right arrow would make the channels go up, and pressing the left arrow would make the channels go down. And then the whole system could be shut down like that, with the press of a button. Truly amazing!
I signed another contract, noting all of the furniture in the place and specifying that I was responsible for paying what utilities I used. I thanked them all, and then they left. I was alone. I have traveled on my own. I’ve been by myself for long periods of time. But I’ve never lived on my own before. It’s a scary feeling to suddenly realize that you are alone in a place. I immediately went to work putting out some of my own stuff, trying to make it feel like it was mine. The next day I did some shopping, had the internet set up, and so on. I spent the rest of the week getting used to my new apartment, cleaning, shopping, and consulting with experts in my research field, trying to more specifically plan my research project.
On Friday, I went to a pickup game of ultimate Frisbee at the Yunnan Nationalities University. The game is organized by a group of expats—students and English teachers—who get together three times a week to play. It was really nice to be around people, and get some exercise. Though, it reiterated that I’m still very out of shape. Interestingly, three of the people who play are friends of one of my friends from Harbin, and one of the girls is from my hometown, Cherry Hill. It is truly a small world. When it got too dark to play, we all headed out for dinner at a Muslim restaurant on WenLin Jie (the main expat street). It really was a good feeling to not be eating dinner alone, and I think that I’ll probably go play ultimate with them at least once a week.
Today, I slept in, and then decided to go to the Second Hand Market to look for a bike and an electric oven. It seems that the majority of the second hand markets in the city have already been closed down and demolished. The only one that I could tell for sure was still standing was one by the airport. I hopped on a bus, and headed for the market, forgetting that the street approaching the airport is currently under construction. After being at a standstill in traffic for quite some time, I finally made it to my destination. The Second Hand Market was not quite what I had expected. There were rows and rows of crap: cheap crap, broken crap, fake crap, stolen crap, old crap, and pornographic crap. I tried to haggle for a bike, but the prices they were asking were ridiculous, and they looked at me like I was crazy when I told them what I was willing to pay. What’s more, there were no ovens in sight. (Chinese people are not too big on the whole baking thing, and microwaves seem to have filled their heating of food needs.) So, I left slightly defeated, and pushed my way onto another bus to wait in traffic.
After getting home, I had a banana smoothie across the street from my apartment. The good news is that they deliver. So, if I am in desperate need of a banana smoothie, and I’m too lazy to walk downstairs and directly across the street, they will come to me! I plan to start attending a class or two this week, as well as posting ads for a language consultant to help me begin my research. I’m slowly getting used to life here, and I’m also planning some trips (research-related, of course). As I mentioned above, I have posted a bunch of photos and videos—look for the new “Video Gallery” link on the interface above, or click “Videos” on the sidebar!
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