January 1, 2017
11:30 pm
Beijing, China
恭贺新禧！Happy New Year!
It’s crazy to think that it’s 2017. This past year has been an adventure, to say the least. Finishing up school, working at a youth camp most of the summer, and, of course, moving to the other side of the world are a few of the big highlights for me. Last year at this time, I was probably sitting at home and watching TV with my sisters. This year, I’m still watching TV, but sitting in my own apartment in a different country. Amazing how much has happened in 364 days.
My first day of 2017 was extremely exciting. I went out and did loads of stuff. Okay, I’m lying. January 1st of 2017 was spent in my apartment, yet again. I know, I’m a terribly adventurous and risk taking type of person. I had actually planned on going to ch—ch today, since I had the day off. Unfortunately, my body had other ideas. Taylor came over and spent the night last night, so we went to bed a bit late. I had planned to leave around 9 to get to ch—ch. When I woke up, though, Taylor was gone and it was a quarter to 11, the time that service starts. And, of course, the ch—ch is around 2 hours away. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to ch—ch today. I guess I needed the sleep. What I did end up doing today was cleaning my apartment.
Let me tell you a little bit more about living in China.
- In many places, you can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet. You have to throw your used toilet paper in the trashcan provided in the stall. This is true of all public restrooms. It’s something to do with the plumbing, I really don’t know. Why do I mention this today? Well, I had a little toilet issue earlier that had me running down to the store to buy a plunger. I have no idea if I’m actually supposed/allowed to flush toilet paper in my apartment. They didn’t tell me not to when I moved in, so I figure I’ll go with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” method for this particular issue.
- Everything gets super dirty here. I mean, crazy dirty. You can clean a shelf one day and a week later it looks like someone hasn’t cleaned it in months. The amount of dust that accumulates is unthinkable. I did a good clean of my apartment today and was absolutely disgusted by what I picked up. Granted, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve cleaned well, but still. I guess that’s why a lot of people get an aiyi to come clean their apartments. I don’t know if it’d be worth it for my little apartment, but I’m going to definitely have to set up some sort of cleaning schedule.
- Laundry can be a bit of a hassle. Since dryers aren’t really a thing here, every piece of fabric you wash has to hang dry. This becomes a little complicated when you do more than one load or wash your bed sheets. Where do you hang everything? Luckily, my wardrobe has a small drying rack (or at least that’s what I use it for) and there’s a railing by my window where I can hang clothes. The sheets are usually hung over the railing or on my shower curtain rod. All my small articles of clothing are usually hung from clothespin hanger contraptions I bought at IKEA. It can still sometimes be difficult to find a place for everything, but I manage. Also, a lot of clothes feel a bit funny after they air dry. They’re a bit rough and stiff when you first put them on. I will say that a clean, soft shirt that’s still warm from the dryer would be wonderful right now.
I can’t really think of anything else to tell you right now. As a result, I’m going to bed. Goodnight! I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Happy 2017!
Kristen
