No Water, No Electricity
I was joking with the VisionTour group that when they left I was going to turn off my phone and cut off my electricity so I could rest and they would be on their own to make their two connecting flights. I was just kidding but yesterday afternoon our power and water was cut off. My first thought was, “did we pay the bill?” Second thought was, “check the elevator to see if it had power.” After seeing that the elevator didn’t have power I knew it was a complex problem not a missed payment.
We just had our power and water turned on in the last hour making it well over 24 hours that we were without both. The joys of living on the mission field.
Oh, and I hear the group made it back okay. 
02.16.11
Things that are different (Part 4)
- White, White, White! Everything is white. I didn’t notice this until our recent trip down south and I was amazed at all the green I saw. (I had the same feeling when I lived in Peru, but everything was brown.)
- Squatty Potty. If you have been to China enough said. If not, basically most bathrooms consist of a porcelain hole in the ground.
- Publicly using the bathroom. It is common to see people urinating on the street and children using the bathroom openly.
- A few new foods that seem to find themselves into our Chinese diet: “ramen noodles,” eating weird parts of animals, and wonderful green tea.
- Having a thing called a Yangtie. Basically, a built in porch or balcony type thingy. Uses for, uuhhhm, uhmm….whatever really (storage, plants, sitting area, freezer in the winter, hanging clothes to dry).
- Internet. The internet here is filtered by the “Great China Firewall” therefore we have to use a VPN/Proxy to access websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Vimeo.
- Sound Activated Lights. Most people stomp their feet or cough really loud to turn on the lights in the hallway or stairway. You can also whistle, clap your hands, or whatever creative way you find to make a loud noise.
- Doing the above every time you walk into a room where the lights are out then realizing not every light is turned on by making loud noises.
- Security. Having guards at the front of our complex. Using a key card to get in our building. Visitors “buz” in through an intercom system.
- Keeping a list of things that are different on my phone and then deleting it. Stink!
Read: Things that are different (Part 3)
Tags: Adaptation, China, Culture, Missionary Life
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