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Published: November 17th 2010
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The weather has turned butt-cold at night.
I am but a tender Californian and not used to temperatures below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. I wear my down jacket and fleece hat while gallivanting around town now, whereas before I would just wear my fleece jacket (and pants; I always wear pants). Despite bundling up, I have come down with a head cold once a week for the last few weeks. I finished my precious bottle of
Nyquil and now just spend my days marveling at the endless supply of mucus.
Of course, this is the infamous "cold and flu season", and I blame my illness on my students: those cute little rodents have turned out to be shameless germ carriers. "Infect the Foreign Teacher" is a game that we play during class and I always lose.
What is Mandarin for "
Purell"?
My apartment is equipped with steam heat radiators, but the concierge won't turn them on. Come to think of it, I don't think we even
have a concierge. Anyway, my bedroom is chilly. I have a thick acrylic blanket and an "iffy" electric heater, but that is not enough. I'll probably buy another blanket or a quilt
or something.
Maybe I will call up
"rent a strumpet".
Other than that, the apartment is fine. It is noticeably grungy on the outside, but essentially OK on the inside, kind of like me. The rooms are spacious, the electricity and plumbing work alright and it is conveniently located on the second floor, not on the fourth. The hallways and stairwell are quite shabby though; for some cultural reason this common area is neglected in every apartment house, or at least the ones that I have seen. I am intrigued by the advertisements placed on the walls outside our front door. They are sort of a Chinese version of the "Yellow Pages". Need a plumber? Need an electrician?
The kitchen is the weak part of my apartment. We only have an electric ceramic hotplate to cook on. This is the "modern" way, I suppose. People got tired of dealing with the (far superior) propane stoves. We also have a rice cooker and (because of me) a new toaster. We have some cooking pots, we have a wok. Yesterday, I bought a flat-bottomed, no-stick pan because cooking bacon and eggs in a wok on an electric hotplate was too much of a challenge.
The IARs (Impossibly Adorable Roommates) cook every night, but they really don't cook well at all. They try, but they are limited in training and skill. (Oh great. I live with two Impossibly Adorable Roommates who don't know how to cook.) The IARs make little money so we are not going to stock the kitchen like at home, but I make sure that we have enough oil, garlic, onions and ginger. I also bought some drinking glasses and tableware.
I don't cook much at home, though I have been making salads. I have been making my salads with lettuce, grape tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs and bell pepper. I couldn't find green onions at the store. I bought some vinegar to make my own dressing. I made them switch to peanut oil "blend" from straight soybean oil which is what they were using before. There is (expensive) olive oil available in the local store, but no Balsamic vinegar. I am going to order some off of
Taobao along with some more butter and some Parmesan cheese. Can you imagine buying butter off of eBay? That is equivalent to what I am about to do.
I found a Muslim baker who makes a round (pizza crust like) bread with sesame seeds. It is about 12" in diameter, baked in a coal-fired oven and costs less than 30 cents. Also, I keep seeing something sold at sidewalk stands that look like flour tortillas, so there may be a burrito in my future. I am eating a lot less meat than normal (not intentionally - that's just the way it is working out).
For breakfast I am eating two slices of vaguely whole wheat toast, yogurt and good coffee. Sometimes a banana when I remember to bring some home. The IARs are banana fiends and will finish them off as quickly as I buy them. We split the banana purchasing responsibility. The tangerines are in and are good. The apples are in and are dull. There are also some expensive naval oranges and some seen-better-days grapes. Plus, a few things that I don't even recognize. Those boring Asian pears are around, but I don't even bother.
This is definitely *not* a cosmopolitan city. There are no foreign restaurants, other than one pretty terrible "Western" style place and a
Dicos fast food outlet which has pretty good french fries. But, Weishan has no KFC or McDonalds. No pizza, either.
I like eating in restaurants but even hot, spicy Chinese food gets old after awhile. Everything in the restaurants has handfuls of dried, red chiles in it. Everything. Occasionally, I want something that is not spicy.
Sometimes I just want bacon, eggs and toast. With butter.
.
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Melissa
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Care Package?
Is this a shout-out for a Care Package? Please send particulars and I will ship something off to you.