Tangshan Living
Ahhh China… and Tanshan… when confused… accept it.
Shall we have a look around my apartment?
Still on the loo, I am on the lowest level of the block of
apartments which houses teachers and students alike. The piping… intriguingly,
is an inside job… meaning, if you again refer to the picture, the pipe you see
there is the exit for all showers and bodily functions from five flights up…
Therefore, if we don’t keep the door to the bathroom closed we are welcomed
after teaching to the delightful scent of human excrement. There has been an
attempt made to reduce the smell by using electrical tape around and around and
around the piping to ensure that no… ‘run-over’ enters our apartment.
Having already discussed my shower, and the fact that the
rotting tiles resulted in my foot splashing into a putrid pool of potential dysentery…
Shall we move on to the kitchen?
Its not so bad! There is a microwave, a strange oven type contraption
that’s quite small but I’m proud to say I’ve been able to roast some vegetables
in it! There is kind of a hot plate, it works some-how in a magnetic method…
so, if your pot is made of tin it wont turn on, but if it’s a decent metal pot,
it will. My housemate Robyn discovered that sometimes it will work with an aluminium
pot… for a moment or two, and then will light on fire – so that was exciting!
What I’ve been able to make:
1.
Roast chicken
2.
Scrambled Eggs
3.
Fried Rice (Aussie style)
4.
Chicken Pot Pie
5.
Stir Fry with Egg Noodles
6.
Ham and Cheese Sanga
Having just returned from an excursion to the shops my house
mate and I have purchased some buns, what looks like it could maybe possibly…
in our dreams… be decent sausage and we’re hoping to put a delicious Sausage
Sizzle together this weekend, complete with fried onions!
I’ve also found some beef mince and once I get my hands on
parmesan cheese I’ll be feeding the troops spag bog… maybe some meatballs and potato…
but we’re all strangely dreaming of beans on toast! Apparently it’s the simple
things… I never even liked beans that much!
My bed is probably what we’d consider a queen size, imagine
a hollow square rectangle, then a mattress and then a foam topper. For me, its
ridiculously comfortable… for others, who don’t like a hard bed, might find it
a bit uncomfortable. My house mates bed is probably the largest I’ve ever seen,
you could cut up a chicken, pluck it, cook it, eat it and still have a clean
area to sleep… that’s how massive it is!
A few nights in Tangshan the team took myself and Therese
out to dinner… to a Korean Restaurant… basically you go off, grab a small plate
and fill it with anything from the smorgasbord, could be fish or meat or vegies
or… desert!
You can have desert whenever you like in China, beginning,
middle or end… I am happy to retain my ‘desert at the end’ concept... my taste
buds would not know what to do if I decided to have ice cream before my
chicken!
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!
Me and hot pot… not friends! Not to mention the hot pot was placed directly infront of me so steam was continuously bellowing into my face while trying to
retrieve my prawn from the hot pot with plastic chop sticks.
Lets just say I found the whole situation stressful until
the hot pans had been taken away and I spent time with five different flavours
of ice-cream.
There may not be a lot to do in this city, but there are a
few special bits and bobs that I’ve found…
1.
Inappropriate PJs
2.
Statues of MAO
3.
Kitten Nickers
4.
Shoe Tower
5.
Oopsies in the Street
6.
Fish Bowles
7.
Excellent hand puppets!
8.
Figurines!
What’s up in Tanghan?
1.
Try to ignore the hocking and spiting… which is
so hard for me but its not rude or inappropriate here
2.
See the lillies and fish near the Tangshan
Museum
3.
Wander down Walking Street and enjoy street food
and market delights
4.
Hit PIZZA HUT and eat lasagne
5.
Enjoy the city at night… China knows how to use
LIGHT!
Best part of Tangshan? The students! The teacher’s! The
people.
I went to purchase a couple of things from the shops the
other day and I gave the operator the exact cash… she was elated, so excited
and expressed much praise to me! So even when you’re buying milk and rice, you
get a buzz out of just living!
Off to Wanda Plaza, what fun! I wanted to buy ALL of the
puppets… a few of the other little bits and bobs, some things – like the dead
looking rabbit – were a no-go! However, putting together Daphne in micro lego…
well, that was just as MUST HAVE! I met a perfectly adorable hand puppet whom I’ve
called Doa, he is a very sad little turtle who needs a hug.
Sadly I left him there in the store, but it may be that my father wishes to adopt him soon!
So that's my apartment and town in a nutshell!
For now, bye from Mao, bye from me...
Next stop… Jinan!
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