I have domestics!

So, it's Monday, which is a day off. As such, today I had the water guy come and deliver my water and had my new housekeeper come by to show her the ropes and have her clean my place. I was very very reluctant to get a housekeeper because my apartment is one room and I feel like I'm personally insulting my grandmother by admitting that I can't manage my own 'household'. Not to mention the fact that the only other person I found who cleans to my same standard was Brian (he loves a clean kitchen).

So, the housekeeper is baffled by the following things:

1. Have an enclosed glass shower. The glass doors are curved, how the hell can she use a squeegee?! (How the hell do you spell that word really?)

2. A drying rack for dishes? Why wouldn't you just put them all back wet?

3. Fabric softener. Everything about it, it's use, it's application, all of it, gone.

4. Little jars full of various spices and flavors.

5. A mop that can be wrung out.

6. The idea of cleaning the outside of windows. This one deserves a mention. I know that in Dalian, and I've heard in most of China, there is little concern for the aesthetics of 'outside.' This explains the shameless littering, spitting, letting one's dog defecate on the sidewalk, letting one's child defecate on the sidewalk (pic 1), etc. This ideal also applies to buildings. You will see a lavish luxury apartment that looks like a ghetto project... on the outside. The inside will be Peruvian marble and granite. It's a bit insane and I will never understand it, nor will I try.

So, these are the big ones that my housekeeper found hard to grasp as they were explained to her. Right now she's cleaning my kitchen, which makes me feel a little lazy because I'm sitting here drinking tea (out of a cup she's about to wash) updating my blog. I could be cleaning... but I just don't want to! Plus it costs me 50 RMB (not even $10) to transport her here and have her clean for two hours. How could I not?

When the water guy came here to change out the jug of water (not just bring a new one, change it) and he had to step around the housekeeper in the kitchen, I realized I'm living well beyond my means... but still within them. I think, after over a year, I'm getting used to the idea that labor is cheap in China. Not only is it cheap, but these people gotta eat and there's no charity in China. Take what you will from that.

I'm going to heat up some French onion soup (then have her wash the bowl), listen to Lady Gaga (why do I love the song Summerboy?), and watch her work. She seems to have taken to the drying dish well, young padawan shows promise she does. Cheers!

For those passing through

So, I've recently been getting back in touch with people through long over due e-mails, Facebook messages, Skype, etc. I guess maybe that's what inspired me to start the blog back up, maybe they're unrelated, not really sure I guess.

In the picture at the top of this post, you'll see many of the original crew I met when coming to China. Jonah and I on the left, moving around to show April, Kailey, Winston, Patrick, Ashley and Abdul. I still see Patrick occassionally (though not as much as I should) and Winston even less. Kailey I see pretty much everyday, but she's going back to America soon. She'll probably be back though. Ashley's been gone for awhile and Abdul has as well. Abdul is someone I actively miss though. He and I hung out a lot. We explored parts of Dalian, played video games, and drank tea. He was (why do I use the past?) a good friend who said he may come back to Dalian after going to Spain, I hope he doesn't welch on that promise.

Anywho, not to dwell on the past, I'll move on. Right now I'm sitting in my classroom, I don't have class for a few hours, which means I'm working on curriculum planning, adding things to lesosn plans, etc. Pretty slow day for the most part. As an update... there's nothing to update. I've been fighting a cold and my cats seem to be having some stomach problems. Luckily these two things combined well which means I walk around groggy as all get out and frequently step in cat vomit, huzzah!

That's all from this side of the world, a useless post but I'm trying to keep it up! Hopefully the next one will have more interesing content and less cat vomit, but no promises. Cheers!

Back from the dead...

In honor of the latest Spinal Tap album, I'm writing a new blog post. I'm not even going to update everyone on what's happened, instead I'm just going to write almost daily little updates about what's shakin'.

• I'm negotiating my contract soon, which means I'll get my fancy new title (I think we're leaning towards Academic Coordinator, though I would like to push for Director) as well as my fancy new raise.


• My lease is up soon on my apartment and I'm going to find a cheaper place closer to work. I'm now one of those people who chooses where they live, shop, etc based on the location of work. Maybe I can just leave my cats in the old place...


• Speaking of my cats I recently discovered they were both actually males, not females. I'm still not going to change their names from Portia and Rosalind though, I don't think Shakespeare would mind, all things considered.


• I've been cooking a lot lately, it's a great release. I'm going to start looking now for Christmas cookie recipes. All suggestions are welcomed, though know that I have limited access to baking supplies here. Keep'em simple.


• Things are over all good. It snowed! (a little) I'm the only one healthy at work, everyone else is trying their hardest to get me sick though. I'm getting my new housekeeper, we'll see how this goes.


• I'm currently in charge of recruiting new American teachers for our school. We need about three people, two preferably with experience with 3-6 year olds. Know anybody?

That's about it for the now, as I mentioned (and always do) I'll try to keep this updated. Now that I've found a reliable way around the Great Firewall of China, it's much easier. Posts will be shorter and less entertaining but will remain above the threshold of pointless websites to look at during work hours. Cheers!