Living in exile

Today was quite an exhausting day filled with little surprises and annoyances. Woke up at around 7-ish. A very loud construction/re-design started at 8 am two floors up. Yes, you read that right 8 am. Fuckers. I went to investigate after about half an hour since there is no use to just tell them to start 30 minutes later. It is still going to be noisy. What I hoped was that the neighbors could write a letter or even just a note to let everyone else they affect that there is going to be a lot of noise from the construction and that there was at least an indication of how long it would take. I am not sure if the Chinese appreciate that kind of notice. I lived here long enough not having found out, as it may depend on the context. But I think a fruit basket would have been nice. We also had a neighbor downstairs that had to enter our place to fix their air conditioning. Was there a fruit basket? NO! The funny thing is that we were the ones with masks and not them. Sometimes I do want to exercise rudeness and be called 野蛮.

When I went two floors up, I was examining the place. It was a complete redesign of the flat. The person who talked with me came from the flat opposite the flat undergoing construction. Turns out she knew the situation. I said to her, 八点就开始吵了，这大概会多久啊? Mentioned it would take about two hours (which I do not believe!). Of course, I was too polite to say bullshit. Remember, positive energy, my dear!

It was awful as two hours turned into the whole day with a respite from 1200 to 1430. Instead of working, I just spent the time cleaning up our war-time balcony. During the outbreak, I have turned the balcony into a big temporary storage space and grew some basil and aloe vera. I also had space for accumulating trash so that I do not have to go downstairs to throw garbage every day (had to seal everything so that there is no 高空抛物). In fact, the original place where I did most of my work turned into a food rations bunker with fresh vegetables, junk food, and other canned goods. The point is to buy a lot and then make big meals that could sustain us without ever going out. There was a point where I bought about 16 kg of small potatoes from Shandong. Lasted us about 5 months.

I digressed. So, I bathed the balcony, cleaned up two big but dead cockroaches, removed all of the 高空抛物 stuff from the neighbors. Most indoor cockroaches (which is completely unavoidable here even in a high-rise) are small because you can control the cleanliness inside to a certain extent. It is the outside and the neighbors that are problematic. Cockroaches that come from the outside (balcony, open window) tend to be much bigger than their indoor counterparts. Not sure if they belong to the same family. The neighbors play a big role in the quantity of cockroaches. We have a neighbor living opposite our flat who puts their trash (the perishable ones, mind you, with the holes in the plastic and trash juices flowing out) outside of their door. You know why? Because they do not want to go down and place their garbage in the cans downstairs!!! The lady who cleans every floor (probably part of 物业 property management) actually takes them with her! What the fuck... I am stunned, as I pay property fees. So every time I pass their door, I raise my middle finger in their honor.

Thankfully, today they are moving out! It feels amazing to get rid of this piece of shit neighbor. Of course, they left a mess in their move, which the cleaning lady has no choice but to clean on their behalf. The outbreak has claimed many lives, and people have not changed. I remember someone saying., “You know, we have a saying in Massachusetts. “Maybe someday you'll get horribly sick and die.” Until then.” Somehow I also understand why the Dutch curse people with diseases, for example vuile kankerhoer (which is quite derogatory as it has evolved to mean fucking whore). Very strange...

So, the balcony is now clear, clean, and the only big thing left is a nonfunctional oven (after one year of extensive use). I plan to give it away to someone who can have it fixed. For now, it stays in the balcony for a while.

Also, one of our plates accidentally got broken. It used to have leftover chapchae. We have a joke (or perhaps rule of thumb?) that once all our plates get broken accidentally, we leave China for good. The first time I lived abroad was when I was doing my master's degree and I brought a stainless steel set consisting of one big plate, one bowl, one flatter bowl, a spoon, a fork, and a cup. My mother bought this for me to bring and I have brought all of these across Europe and to China. The cup died in Paris because the handle just broke. But everything else is still good. In fact, my first cooking pot (bought from Monoprix, apparently a high end grocery store) is still with me. There I cooked rice on a hot plate! So I never understood the rice cooker at all. I only got my first rice cooker after winning a Mid-Autumn Festival game organized by the school. Where was I?

Oh yes, why the plates? Well when I came here to China, I did not bring all the plates we have bought in Europe. I only brought the ones that my mother bought for me. I used them for a month or so. After a while, I think I really needed to get a set of new plates. So I bought a 30-piece autumn themed set. Big plates, small plates, big bowls, small bowls, even smaller bowls for sauces, and so on. I thought of these plates as a permanent set (which I may eventually bring back to the next stop). As of today, 11 are remaining. Of course, we bought other plates but they are transitory. At this rate, it is only a matter of time.

So no academic work done for today. Did some admin that led me to the following questions: What is the length of time needed to respond to a WeChat message that contains a question? What factors affect the length of time to response? Quite frankly, I do not know. Is there even a norm? Does it pay to be explicit about a time limit?

I will talk about admin work another time, especially what it inflicts on the mind, the spirit, the body, and the soul. Research can replenish the mind. Teaching can replenish the spirit. But there is a chasm in the body and the soul. Sometimes seeing how your flock is doing after many years and where they are now can replenish the soul. This leaves the body. Somehow I understand why professors in positions of power abuse such power. The abuse of others can somewhat replenish the body. Of course, this is speculative theory at best.

Sorry to have ended on that rather dark note. Perhaps that is the reason for the rule of thumb involving the plates.