ABSOLUTE EFFING INSANITY

---

When last you heard from me, I was holed up in a hotel and in a state of total outrage. The school had 24 hours to solve my water crisis. And, actually, they did, at least by about 90%! (MISSING)

I moved into a new apartment which is about the size of our house in Cincinnati. Hardwood floors, a living room with two couches, a kitchen sink with warm water, etc. The internet works faster than my other apartment. Nice place except for the lack of a functioning fridge.

If I had known that throwing a big stink would get me these sort of arrangements, I would have done it a lot sooner.

The thing is, though...

The thing is. I hadn't been here for three days, when I received a knock on the door. Some people were standing around, and I stared at them awhile. They stared back. I'm pretty used to the landlady coming in and out to fix stuff up as I move in, but none of these people were the landlady, and to make it worse they were laughing at me. I shut the door.

A few minutes later, I got a second, VERY INSISTENT knock on the door. Dreading it, I opened the door again. This time, three people burst into my house and began demanding money--610 kuai, to be precise. I asked them what for, and they told me "water". They walked around inspecting my place and writing up apparent receipts.

"Six hundred and ten rmb," repeated the Pidgin-speaking girl.

Getting really incensed, not to mention unnerved, I shouted at her, "I'm not paying you anything!"

They surrounded me, and I shouted, "I don't know who you are! Get out of my home!!" And once I had said that, they backed off immediately.

Slamming the door shut behind them, I attempted to call, then message, my manager. No answer. I tried calling my FAO (the same one who had gotten me into trouble with water in the first place). No answer. Given stories I read prior to coming to China, such as this one, I was starting to get seriously panicky--what if they came back with some sort of "enforcement"? And no one could be bothered to pick up the phone. Finally, I had to call a coworker, "Where's our boss?"

"Oh, well he's passed out drunk, Yanzi." This was at seven thirty in the evening, mind you. Seven thirty in the evening! and no one in the entire city could be there for me in my moment of horror! It was surreal, absolutely fucking surreal.

I turned off all the lights, locked all doors, and went to sleep that night with a large heavy wok beside my bed and a knife under my pillow, such was the extent of my unease about the situation. Can you imagine living this way in your own home, in a good neighborhood, in a foreign country with no ongoing warfare?? You can't speak the language, and no one is there to help you. What do you do?

I still have no idea what it was all about; either they are really serious about collecting money for utilities, or else maybe every con artist in the city knows where I live. I can't even believe the way my situation has totally collapsed from boring, grinding, and lonely to utterly insane within the space of five days. I should have listened to the sign I received in Cambodia. I AM GETTING THE HELL OUT.

---

Comments

[Alan]

Utilities
Yanzi, In China you pre-pay utilities for apartments. This includes electric, water and hot water. Yes, hot water is metered separately. I share an apartment with several of my co-workers that come and go. They did not understand this system, they did not pay. So when I arrived later, when the money on the meter expired, boom boom, out went the lights. And the hot water (twice in the shower!). These people should have had an invoice for the water. But what makes me suspicious, is there were three people and the amount of the bill. 610 RMB seems to be a lot. You were right to close the door and call your manager. If your apartment is really in arrears with the water bill, your water would have been turned off. Your apartment should have an electric card - looks like a credit card. You go to a bank and deposit money on the card, just like a debit card. You then go back to your apartment and in the hallway outside your door, there should be an electric meter closet where you insert the card and then click a button. That then "tells" the meter to reset for th new amount. There should also be an LED readout telling you how much is on the meter. If it reads at 100 or less, go recharge your card now. Believe it or not, I have grown to like this system, it encourages people to understand their resource use in a very upfront way. I belive it leads to better resource management. And better for the environment. Finally, I understand the knife, but what's up with the wok?

[Global Drifter]

Ha Ha ha...
Well Alan...that IS the funny thing. As mentioned in my previous post, they DID shut off the water. MY FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFICER HAD NOT PAYED ANYTHING FOR SIX MONTHS. Keep in mind, I couldn't change this if I had to--I don't understand the system, I can't speak the language, no one is willing to give me information. I'm afraid what it boils down to is that my school abnegated its responsibilities rather egregiously, and I am indeed upset about it. As to the wok. It weighs about 10 pounds. I figure if I swing it at someone's head (or any bone), it could do some damage. I would not hesitate to do this, either.