It’s a start

I arrived safely in Xiamen today (Wednesday, that is). I’m still not sure what day it is. The airports were sparkling clean; pristine would be the word I would use. Everywhere there seemed to be glass; high glass windows, partitions made of glass and railings down stairways made of glass. I was certainly glad that I didn’t have to clean them. The washrooms were spotless which is the last good thing I can say about washrooms—more about that later.
I was able to buy a mocha and a cookie for 43 dollars! In Hong Kong dollars that would be about $6.00—not bad for airport fare. I picked up my bags without a problem. It’s funny, I felt very territorial about having to give up my suitcases with all my prized possessions in Calgary. I almost wanted to hug my suitcases—all 49.4 pounds of them—when I saw them on the carousal in Xiamen. Customs went as smooth as a hot knife cutting butter. Someone was there to greet us at the airport to take us to where we are going to be staying while we do some visiting with other teachers of the university.
I am eating in the cafeteria for every meal. It is difficult to get used to the smells and sights of the food. For one thing, it’s chopsticks all the way! You get a spoon for soup and that’s it. I’ve stabbed, scooped and slopped the food and none too graciously either.
I am staying in the dorms that are used by the students throughout the rest of the year. It is a typical dorm room: a desk, bed, dresser and nothing much else. There is TV, however, all the channels are in Chinese. The room has a balcony which contains the washing machine, and two sinks plus a drying rack. People hang their clothes outside to dry (although I’m not sure how they can dry in this humidity). Off to the right is a door which contains the shower and toilet. Now, the word “toilet” is a very loose term. Believe me, I don’t think I will ever complain about having to clean three bathrooms in my house ever again (and no, Byron...that does not let you off the hook from cleaning your own bathroom!) Picture the toilet seat stuck to the floor with a hole in the floor in the centre of the toilet seat—yep that’s what I get to use for 6 whole weeks!
I still haven’t quite figured out how to use this thing without having to disrobe completely. There must be a simpler and much faster way. All I can say is, at this moment, I’m very thankful for the baby butt wipes that a friend of mine gave me; they’re going to come in so handy.
My room does have AC, but it doesn’t seem like the ones we have in Canada. I don’t think there is central air at all. The different rooms that have them work, but it seems very inconsistent. At this point, I always seem to look a tad bedraggled.
I wasn’t very hungry for supper with a combination of too much humidity, too little sleep and very new experiences when it came to food. I had something that I could recognize and a cold coke. Pop seems to be the only thing that is cold. Water is room temperature, which in my opinion tastes quite gross when it is so hot out.
So, this ends my first full day in China. Keep thinking about the requests that I made. I hope that I can adjust to the food which seems to take a little getting used to. I’m hoping to go to bed now. I know that it is only 9:00, but I am really tired. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!