Lately I've been feeling like I'm living in the land of pork. Everywhere I go I see yummy things to eat but when I ask what kind of meat it has the reply is always "Zhu rou" (pork). That is one word I remembered from the first time I heard it. It sounds like "jew row". I think to myself: Jews don't eat pig so if they were in a boat they would row away. Silly I know but I really don't like to eat pork so I had to remember that word fast. Now, when I heard that word I ask if they have chicken or beef or no meat at all. Many times they only have the pork but on occasion they may have another meat. Sometimes they even have vegetarian but it will still have some egg in it. The thing is, the stuff with the pork in it always looks tastier than what I'm eating! Sam will say his meal is delicious while mine is just okay. Blagh! One day I may have some of this Zhu rou but for now I'm just feeling adventurous with the lamb and squid.
Sam and I have noticed that we have been getting scared over the silliest things. For example, we have a water service that will deliver a new 5 gallon bottle for a machine that dispenses both hot and room temperature water. We have already paid for 11 bottles so they gave us 11 tickets. We are supposed to call the number on the ticket and request a bottle when we need it. The first time we needed water a friend made the call for us, but a few days ago we ran out again. Sam said he agonized over calling for quite a while. He looked at the ticket and saw three different phone numbers to call. He had no clue which was the one for delivery. He tried one but it was more of a recording. The next one he thought was right so he gave our apt number and asked for water. The woman on the other line said a bunch of words he didn't understand so he just said "Hao. Xie, xie." (Okay, thanks) Then he hung up and hoped that somehow water would appear at our door. Miraculously about 30 minutes later there was a knock at the door and we had water! We agonized similarly over buying more electricity. Here, you have to prepay for your electricity. There is a meter outside your apt. door which tells you how many units you have left. When we first got here they told us we had about a week of electricity left. To buy more electricity you must load a card that is specific to your apartment. You must go to a bank to add money on it. That may sound easy, but if felt daunting to walk into a bank and explain what you want. A friend said they would help but by the time they were ready it was after 6pm on a Friday night and no banks were open. That same night we decided to ask our landlord for advice. She said there was a building close by that was one of the main places to buy electricity. She gave directions to Sam but again it wouldn't be open until Monday. We had got seriously low on power and I felt like any minute everything might stop working. That weekend was scary but we made it! So, on Monday Sam tried to find this electricity building but with no success. He walked far down the street she said it was on but to no avail. He finally decided to walk into a bank and see what would happen. Surprisingly enough he got through it with only two bank employees needed to help. He loaded as much $ as he could so that we won't have to do it again for a while. Really these are simple things but they feel huge when you are not sure of what the person standing front of you is saying.
To answer a couple of comments on the blog. Our living room may look big but its probably only slightly bigger than our apartment in West Sac. The bed you saw is a new one. Originally we had a twin bed that was as hard as a rock. Although our apartment is supposed to be "furnished", our landlord would not buy us a bigger bed. We had to buy our own. It worked out good because we were able to choose not only a bed we liked the look of, but also comfortable. I think that is important because getting sick happens a lot here. If you must be in bed its good if its comfy.
