Translation: the dorms
First moving to China was one of those “in your face” expectation meets reality moments. On the one hand, I knew what the contract said, and I knew that it wasn’t going to be how I imagined, but when I arrived and had to start actually living it out, there were problems and obstacles that I never imagined I would have.
What the contract said the school would provide: “Party A’s host school shall provide Party B necessary teaching and living conditions. Party A’s host school shall provide Party B free accommodation, it contains air-conditioner, refrigerator, washing machine, television, internet access, shower, microwave oven, drinking fountain, furniture, basic utensils in the kitchen, free water and gas, limited electricity within 200 Yuan RMB each month, etc.. The internet fee is free.”
Here is the breakdown of the things that I did not think I would have issues with. The door:
The first day, Ella got locked from the INSIDE of the dorm. She needed to get help from the other teachers to unlock it, and later we learned that sometimes certain locks turn when you move the handle. The way around this is just to unlock the door with the key from the inside. To make sure the door closes all the way, we have to slam it, yes actually slam the door with force to shut it rather than turning the handle and gently pushing it back. The result? Well, I was wondering why there was a pile of rocks by the door, and then I looked at the side. The other rooms don’t have this issue, but our doorframe is somehow glued and held in place by a bunch of small rocks.
The window: Well, it looks fine when you look at it, but they actually don’t close all the way–even less so when the Wifi was installed and they tied the cables to the bars outside. 2 problems arose, first came the bugs during the hot days, and second was the below freezing cold we felt even inside the room without sealed windows, insulation, or curtains.
I tried to use mosquito repellent that I plugged into the wall, and even desperately used scotch tape in an attempt to seal the windows so they wouldn’t come in when the light was turned on.
The kitchen: From my other post, I talked briefly about the struggles with the induction stovetop that was provided. It’s nothing glamorous but the basics are here, but Westerners, don’t expect the oven.
The Wifi: If anyone is going to go to China, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing a VPN with a monthly subscription because they are much more reliable than the free ones. It is an absolute must to download the VPN before you enter the Mainland since the government has made it more difficult to download VPNs within China (though it is still possible, despite what the news says).
ExpressVPN was my absolute lifesaver. My friends tried using free ones, but they eventually bought paid ones because when China would block out that connection, you could choose another country to connect your IP dress from. Many times wifi would simply not work or work with the VPN and that was just something I had to learn to deal with. On the plus side, I reread the entire Harry Potter Series rather than watching Netflix.
The electricity: I figured I would budget accordingly so that I would never have to pay extra, since they gave a generous amount for us to top-up and use each month. All was well until the weather started getting colder and Ella and I needed to use our heaters every night when we slept. Half of the power in the apartment kept on shutting off, and we had to manually turn it back on the switchboard, but it started growing resilient to turning back on. The school maintenance men came to check on us, but looked at us as if we were lying about the issue or just complaining about a problem that simply didn’t exist. Weeks into this problem, the electricity wouldn’t even stay on long enough to heat the water for our showers–it would shut off even when we weren’t inside the room! During some of the coldest temperatures, when I could see my breath inside the room, I was taking 1 minute showers in freezing cold water just to get a quick wash in.
The toilet: I don’t have a before and after picture here, but when I first arrived, one side of the toilet seat already had a crack down one entire side, so if I sat down too quickly it would pinch my skin. After a few months of use, that light crack gave in and we had to ask the office to replace that toilet seat. Like others before us, we had to constantly ask our liaisons to put in our request to the maintenance office, and weeks later they finally came to measure the seat to order a new one (it’s not so simple to buy one around here since nobody in this city uses the Western toilets). I wasn’t home when they came in to the room to replace the seat, but when I walked into the restroom, I was shocked to see that the new size didn’t fit the size of the toilet! Baffled, because they even came in with a measuring tape!
In China, if it works then there really is no reason to complain. The second problem though, came when it seemed as if the toilet would not flush anymore. Ella said that the toilet was blocked, so when I went to check, we took off the top and the cheap, plastic, button that reached to flush. Since then, we have an old toothbrush to reach down and flush the toilet for the last 3 months.
The view: Though my small room directly faces the building right next to us, I have somewhat gotten used to the shouting, spitting, cooking, and the blaring train that passes by all through the day and night while I sleep. Looking out at the mountains and river every day is not too shabby though.
There are some locals that have much even more basic housing and don’t even have floors in their homes, an air conditioning unit, or a laundry machine, but some have quite nice new apartment homes too (one of the perks of working for the government)! Still, as a foreigner in this place, I didn’t work for this home and yes indeed, I’m extremely privileged for what I have here.
Isaiah 58:11 ESV
And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
MELODY TIENYUN 
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