I love Chinese people

My flatmate, Li Hua, is possibly the nicest and nerdiest person I've ever met. I mean, he is a post-doc in theoretical physics at Nanjing University. He is literally the stereotypical nerdy Chinese guy, but so incredibly sweet. AKA he forces me to eat fruit all the time. My friend Ting Ting actually helped me find the apartment, and I trust her judgment, but I really didn't know how it would turn out and was a little nervous from hearing horror stories about apartments from other people. But Li Hua is awesome. The best thing is that he is talkative, and loves to chat with me in Chinese while randomly inserting English into the middle of conversations, especially with numbers and colors (ie, 我在南京会住two年). It's hilarious. He finds my habits and me fascinating, like how I don't wear slippers in the house and eat peanut butter and jelly. He's exactly what I wanted in a Chinese flatmate. He also offered to introduce me to his classmates! The first night I arrived I couldn't connect to the Internet, so he literally called 5 of his classmates who tried to help him over the phone until one that owns a Macbook agreed to actually come over at 10 o'clock at night.

The landlord came over yesterday to accompany me to the local police station for foreigner residence registration, and she was discussing the electricity bill with Li Hua: "Be prepared," she said, "Foreigners waste electricity because they always turn on the heater （空调）. Sometimes they'll keep the heater as high as 20 degrees (68 degrees Farenheit) all day and all night. They really fear the cold （外国人非常怕冷)."

I normally would be slightly peeved, except it's really the truth. There's really no better way to put it than to say that I am scared of the cold weather, especially when it involves a house with no central heating, nor insulation for that matter. And when they say "heater" they actually mean an air conditioner that blows hot air in the winter (read: not very efficient). I guess it builds character. I guess one winter in Nanjing wasn't enough to toughen my skin against the cold, so maybe this one will do it.* 

pictures on the next page!!! 

I went to get my medical check-up at the Nanjing city international travel center today. It's a procedure required for my residence permit. All I can really say is: so different. so incredibly different than anything we would ever see in the States. It was the first time I had ever been in any sort of medical facility in China (I didn't get sick at all last time around and I had documents from a medical exam in the States for the residence permit two years ago). I honestly felt bad for the people working there: they couldn't be more obvious about the fact that they hated their jobs, and hated dealing with foreigners even more. I had heard from friends that Chinese hospitals resemble train stations. This one wasn't as crowded as least. Let's just say that sanitation and patient confidentiality are not one of their top priorities. Little things that you wouldn't even think about: during my medical exam, the door was open the entire time and at least 2 people walked in to wait for their exam, until the doctor told them to wait outside. I also got an ultrasound of my stomach (this is a favorite procedure among my foreign male friends) and someone walked in during that procedure too, while the nurse shooed them away. And they definitely didn't change the examination table sheets between patients. I was wary about the blood taking procedures. They didn't change gloves between patients and wiped their noses with their gloves on. For the EKG they attached clamps that clearly hadn't been changed for the past year all over my body. And that was it to clear me for residency in Nanjing.

I saw one of my best friends from Nanjing, Gao Min, today. One of the first things he said to me was, "You really need to practice your Chinese. But at least you lost weight."

Here are some pictures of my apartment and around Nanjing: 

My bedroom

My bed with its extremely thin mattress. I really don't know why they even bother with a mattress that thin. It really feels like I'm sleeping on the floor. Actually I don't even know why bother for a bed for that matter. I guess I'm still getting used to some things.

All my clothes and stuff

A sign at the subway that says, "As a civilized train rider, did you form a line today?" (some people of an unspecified nationality *cough* have trouble forming lines)

My bathroom. The Chinese don't believe in shower curtains, so the shower head is just hanging out with everything else. Everything gets wet every time you shower.

Living room

Kitchen: notice the water cooler (can't drink out of the tap) and the washing machine...

Stove top with no oven, hence the reason I had to bring the cookies and brownies.

This is my cute little notebook. It says in English: "Being abandoned constantly, I always gain sympathy."

A recycling truck