All posts tagged: home & living

Tough Times for Little Heater

Published by Sula H.

Did your parents ever put you in time-out when you did something bad as a child? I know my parents did. Time-out for us was standing in the corner of a room for a while and think about what we’ve done and how that was bad. Well, guess what. Little Heater has returned. And after serving me an hour or two after I got back from the wedding last week (because my apartment was really cold then), it decided to stand in the corner voluntarily. So, there it is now, probably brooding over the fact how it has abandoned me over the last couple of months. I do pity it, a little, watching it standing there so forlorn. But what can I do? With big heater friend AC around, life’s gotten really tough for little guys like Little Heater.

The Flood

Published by Sula H.

I mentioned it last Saturday already. The flood. You see, floods, when they occur outside in nature, are evil enough. Floods in kitchens, however, are another story altogether! And so it happened, that I was walking to lunch Saturday noon, and as soon as I approached the door to the dining hall, I knew something was odd. The door stood open. And that door never stands open voluntarily, mark my words! So, as I walked through that door into the dining hall, I observed other oddities. Like the damp mist wafting through the dining hall. And that sound. The distinct sound of rushing water coming from one of the kitchens. Of course, inside the kitchen it was pitch-black, save the flashlight that was flickering and illuminated a couple of dark heads. And those heads were looking at what was causing the mist, and the sound, and the door to stand open: a broken pipe. And the water coming from it, wasn’t just a little trickle. It sounded like a white-water river was rushing through our …

Of Lunches and Other Evils

Published by Sula H.

The story goes as this: In our existence as foreign faculty, we get to enjoy a couple of blessings. One of these blessings is that we get our meals served for free, three times a day, buffet style. (Though others might consider it a curse, especially those who don’t like the food being served, which – generally speaking – are a lot of people.) Well, the thing is that during the winter break, things change quite a bit. For one, instead of three meals, we only get two meals at considerably odd hours (mid morning and late afternoon). What’s even more tricky is when evil forces try to interrupt this delicate cycle of meals. As it happened just this morning. A blackout was the evil force that tried to meddle with our meal times. A blackout which was caused by a villain called “broken-pipe-in-the-kitchen” who had caused serious damage and a river to run through one of the big kitchens (literally). So, with the intentions of repairing the damage, other forces had set out to …

The Lives of Batteries

Published by Sula H.

Have I ever told you about batteries? Of course, we don’t need to discuss their usefulness here, as everyone knows that life is hardly possible without them in this day and age. That, however, doesn’t mean that that makes their life possibly lasting longer. Not at all. And surely not here where I live. In fact, the life expectancy of batteries are just as unreliable as you could imagine. Let me give you a recent example: I was buying an appliance that works with the help of batteries. And on the box of that appliance it tells you clearly that with proper use, a battery will last two years before it needs to be switched out. Well, did I think when I bought that appliance, make that a couple of months instead, and then we’re getting closer to reality. Little did I know that I was wrong. Dead wrong. For it didn’t take two years; neither did it take a couple of months. Within one month after I’d bought the appliance, it stopped working because …

The Lobby Christmas Tree

Published by Sula H.

Remember the Christmas tree in the lobby, which I showed you a couple of weeks ago in this post? Well, someone made a sad discovery the other day, and pointed out to me that if you look closely enough you’ll find that the decoration at the bottom of the tree (within the range of what people can reach) has pretty much gone! Can you imagine that? We finally have the prettiest tree in the history of our lobby, and then people go and steal the ornaments off the tree! (Which is actually not like very expensive, or exclusive decoration. It’s just the kind of decoration you can get in any store around here!) Unfortunately, when I took my camera with me earlier today, for the sole purpose of providing you some proof of this outrageous crime, I had to realize that the tree was gone. No, no, not what you may think now. No one stole the whole tree. It being mid-January, it was – after all – about time to take it down again. …

On Little Heater Friends, Big Heater Friends and a Very Cozy Home

Published by Sula H.

Something dreadful has happened to me! My friend, Little Heater, who used to be indispensable for me during winter in the last couple of years has abandoned me. Just like that! No, it didn’t give up its spirits, or just quit its services. It just flat out abandoned me! First, it went off to serve one of my friends in his bathroom – quitting its social sphere of the heater community and turning into a dryer – can you imagine that degradation? (And yes, our building still has issues and needs constant maintenance. My friend’s apartment, for example, had gotten flooded right before he wanted to move in, and after months it still needs help drying up.) And now, Little Heater has gone off to be with one of my other friends who complained about having to give exams in freezing classrooms the other day. So Little Heater decided to take up heating business again and stay with my friend for a while! Well, maybe I shouldn’t be too upset with Little Heater. Maybe it’s …

New Meal Schedule

Published by Sula H.

When it comes to meals and holidays, there’s a slight dilemma. You see, we get our meals served three times a day, buffet style. Now, that’s not the dilemma. That’s what I call service – never having to clean up dishes, I don’t mind that (though I really wouldn’t mind doing some cooking of my own every once in a while). But generally speaking, it’s a good thing that we get meals served three times a day. For the winter break, however, things change. With “things” I mean the meal service. The problem is: breakfast would have to be finished before 8:30 in order for the staff to be able to prepare lunch in time. But, while on holiday, who wants to get up in the whee hours of the morning only to get breakfast? Most of my colleagues wouldn’t. So, the meal schedule changes to two meals a day. Two meals at very odd hours … a 9:30 breakfast, and a 5 o’clock dinner. With lots of nothing in between. I don’t mind, though. …

Candles for the Advent Wreath

Published by Sula H.

Candles are a peculiar thing. Especially here in China. The use of candles generally is reduced to the purpose of shedding light in the case of blackouts which happen every once in the while (though admittedly, rather rarely). So, finding pretty candles to decorate your home with can turn into a rather challenging quest. When putting up my Christmas decoration a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t realize that I was in for another challenge. The problem: On my shelf I had a pack of red candles, which I had gotten last year for my advent “wreath.” Little did I know that the candles in that pack were actually the ones I had used last year already. In other words, they weren’t new. ‘Bummer,’ I thought to myself, ‘now I have to make another (whole day) shopping trip into the city just so I can get more candles.’ Well, I was able to combine it with some of my other Christmas shopping and errands. So it wasn’t actually that big of a deal. But for …

Sweet Season

Published by Sula H.

I’m excited! Because today I got to fill my advent calendar again. This year it’s filled with special goodies that I brought with me from Germany, specifically for this season. And now I don’t only have the pleasure of a few pieces of good chocolate every day, but also a sweet taste of home in a season when family and loved ones (who matter more this time of year) are far out of reach. Sweet greetings for the season, everyone!

Christmas Time Is Here …

Published by Sula H.

… and for me, that’s the happiest season of the year! After all, I get to invite my students and have them help me decorate my home. They get all excited about doing something they’ve never done in their whole lives, and I get to have the pleasure of enjoying their excitement as they examine the Christmas ornaments and learn about some of our various Christmas customs, and about the fact that Christmas apples, in fact, are a Chinese Christmas custom (not a Western custom as they assume).