Note to myself
1. Take out the clothes immediately after the washing machine finishes the cycle late at night. Leaving it till the next morning results in the clothes smelling funny.
2. Stop being afraid to press the light switch on. Fuses blow up, it is normal. Just keep a candle around.
3. Keep trying to learn Chinese.
Posted: June 3rd, 2008 under Lifestyle.
Comments
Comment from Eddy Young
Time June 4, 2008 at 5:18 pm
What is even more abnormal is that someone would be freaked out by blown fuses to the point of avoiding switching on any light :-)
Seriously… Do you mean you have not been speaking Chinese all the time you’ve been in China? Or, are you differentiating between Mandarin and Chinese?
Eddy.
Comment from clive
Time June 5, 2008 at 2:27 am
Haha! may be he still is not grasping more what he is hearing. That’s y!!!
Comment from Raymond
Time June 5, 2008 at 10:33 am
Moved in the apartment on the last few days of December. Early January, fuse blew up with a big ‘bang’ and electrician check all the power outlets for like 3hrs. Between January and end of May, I called the electrician to check the fuse at least 3 times because the circuit breaker went into the off position. We are not allowed to do restart it or check the problem by ourselves as per agreement with building management company. About three weeks ago, I came back home to find the bathroom’s main light was not working. I changed the bulb, and a day or two later, when I switched it on, I heard a big ‘bang’ and the lights went off. It was the electric box that is attached to the lightbulb that got blown off and you had that pungent smell coming out. On Monday I woke up and found the circuit breaker was in the off position again. The switch labelled ‘aircon’ was the one that moved, but I have not used the aircon for months.
That’s why I am a bit scared to switch lights on. I feel like I’m going to hear another bang. And since I sometimes get home after 9pm (the time the electrician gets off duty), a blown fuse would result in no lights till the next morning. I don’t want to be groping in the dark to look for my phone and then use it to look for lighter and candles.
My oral Chinese is still not good enough. Yes, I don’t speak mandarin a lot. I don’t go out, so I don’t need to speak with people. I am the Home-Office-Home type of guy. The bao’an (security officer) of my complex is Shanghainese and usually speaks a mixture of Shanghainese and mandarin with me. And at the office, since most colleagues are from Jiangsu, I hear the Jiangsu accent/dialect instead of the proper mandarin and have pretty hard time trying to figure out (if possible) what they’re talking about. I have a tutor who helps me practice my oral Chinese for a couple of hours per week. But I am getting bored with it. Never liked tution.
Comment from aline
Time June 8, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Clive and Eddy are talking about #2 and 3 but it was #1 which struck me most. :P I know someone who left his clothes in the washing machine for 3 days. When he took them out, they smelled bad and he had to wash them again. haha
Comment from clive
Time June 4, 2008 at 12:57 am
It is not normal that fuses always blow up. There must be problem with the circuit somewhere…