i have purposely neglected to outline the special relationship with my apartment in previous posts, as i was not yet able to pinpoint each of the idiosyncrasies that eternally bind us. the past few weeks have . . . well . . . put a strain on our bond. it all began with a refrigerator that would not refrigerate, a microwave that would not microwave, and a stove that would not sto . . . cook. this bump in the road was quickly remedied when i realized that all of the circuits had blown in the kitchen (granted this was many days after moving in). the next test of our marital bliss came when i was sitting down to enjoy a nice DVD after a long day of "recruiting" (read: sitting on my ass). i popped the disc in and ran back to the couch with remote in hand ready to press play and dive right in to someone else's world. i was naive to think that i could escape my own world and my relationship with my apartment, as the DVD player so selfishly decided to be broken on that day, neglecting my needs entirely. DVD player returned and new one acquired, this little bump was flattened. no relationship exists without constant annoyances and frustrations that one must just learn to live with and compromise as i have realized during the past three weeks. unfaltering cold showers, the lack of running water here and there, the occasional power outage, and the pungent odor of sewage seeping in through the drains are all just aspects of my significant other's personality that i will just have to learn to live with . . . and in.
someday last week i arrived at the infamous recruiting office ready for a day filled with reading, sitting, reading, and . . . sitting. i was pleasantly surprised to be accosted by a little mongolian boy who's mother also works in the office. our friendship began around the morning hour of 10:00 am with the requisite tickle and fake fighting so necessary to a friendship of this kind (i.e. one in which neither party can effectively communicate with one another). after lunch and "wu shui" (the chinese siesta), our friendship progressed to taking digital pictures of each other making faces (see pictures). this went on for most of the rest of the afternoon. from that day on i have had a friend to distract me from the rigors of work in the office. we now venture as far as the mall on the second floor of the building running through knock-off designer clothes, chinese tea sets, and jade lions. it is a very reciprocal friendship.
it came as no surprise to me that inner mongolia had the occasional insect or other small animal that would cross one's path from time to time. i had been warned about swarms of lady bugs and the need to tape-off all the windows in the apartment when the swarms came in september. well, it isn't september and i have not seen a single lady bug, but i have seen thousands upon thousands of beetles, flies (fruit, black, man-eating), praying mantises, grasshoppers, and frogs roaming the campus. when i say campus, i mean EVERY inch of the campus. inside the dining hall, inside the classrooms, inside my apartment, on my face. nowhere is safe from these buzzing, flying, hopping beasts. i could always resort to the chinese method of pest removal (i.e. throwing the insects against walls), but i have never been able to bring myself to bring about the premature death of any living organism if it was within my power to do so. so i can constantly be seen carrying handfuls of insects from my apartment to the grass outside the complex. i'm sure my neighbors think i am a few ants short of an anthill as i can be heard whispering to the insects, "go now, you are free", but i guess they thought i was a freak anyway - me with my blonde hair and light skin and everything.
not that i like to "blow my own horn" or anything, but i am kind of a big deal . . . me along with the other foreign teachers here. i have become accustomed to the incessant stares and whispering experienced as soon as i step foot outside of my apartment door and lasting the entire duration of said excursion. my rock star status has afforded me some very interesting introductions and conversations. one such introduction came the other day when we (the foreign teachers) were requested to meet the secretary of the communist party for the autonomous region of inner mongolia and the secretary of agriculture - both very important men in the province. after shaking hands and watching a highly propagandistic film about the school (all in chinese, of course), we took photos with the two men, thus ending our brief meeting. as i watched the camera crews and school officials hurrying after the two men as they headed on a tour of the campus, i though to myself how much i am growing to love china. it is not without its bumps and bruises along the way, but what relationship is? i love it all. thus is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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