Feeling super-frustrated at the continual problems I have been having with the internet and cable. My wifi works for sh$$, so I have been unable to continue consistent work on my blog; nothing uploads. The speed of my wifi is like dial-up and it dials-up my frustration—that’s the only thing fast! I stopped using my TV after month one, when everything I had been watching was costing me extra and they shut off my wifi because I owed money. There’s another fun fact: China Telecom doesn’t say “Hey, you are at your limit, pay some yuan”; they just shut it off and you are supposed to figure out why. Figuring out why, and possibly even knowing beforehand is probably simple if you speak Mandarin! Add to that the fact that I purchased an expensive router with built-in VPN that is supposed to make my upload/download speeds superfast and that doesn’t work for sh$$ either. Just as slow and who knows if the VPN doesn’t work either. I need to ask for my money back.
(Not to worry; the bitching ends in gratitude!!) My frustration level has been at its highest these past weeks, when every single day brings a new challenge and frustration and something going wrong. I’ve been late to work twice because I can’t get a car service (poor me), but I couldn't use the bikes because they wouldn’t accept my ID or something. My fire alarm keeps going off and the tell me nothing is wrong with it, that I should open a window. Well, the air has been bad for two days and I’m not opening my damn window. Plus, it’s not a nice and easy battery-powered alarm of which I could simply pull out the battery—it’s wired connected. I’m seriously thinking about cutting the wires. Then there is the AC in my bedroom which only blows warm air and will not shut off, so I have to crawl up on my bed to stand, reach up, and unplug it to switch it off. Oh, and there’s mold in my AC system, so i get to pay someone to come clean that out too. All these little things add up, when they happen one after the other, especially if I’m feeling sensitive and moody and vulnerable due other reasons already. I have felt seriously fed up and at the end of my rope last week and so far this week; damn, it’s only Tuesday at 6:30am, too. Ugh! But all of this is not to say that I don’t love China and I don’t appreciate everything else that is such a gift here, financially, friendship, travel, other conveniences (that are not wifi and AC). I have received so much support from my coworkers and staff at school and friendships have emerged that I treasure. I have had two out-of-town vacations in the short weeks I’ve been here, and by week 12, I will be traveling on my third! Since my Dad died, I have stopped taking the bus, and gotten in the lazy but inexpensive habit of using car service to and from work and during lunch. This Chinese version of Uber has only set me back 590 yuan ($100) for the month, and that is using it to go everywhere, including 4 trips to/from school 4-5 days weekly! I’ve finally figured out how to order various items online, including dinner delivered in 45 minutes or bubble tea to work after lunch. I have everything I need and I feel prosperous here—which is the exact opposite of how I have felt in the US since my return from Korea. When I weigh the ups and the downs, the scale tips toward the positive side; I just need to keep my mind and perspective on that side as well. Perhaps THAT is the greatest challenge of living in China!
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Having......gallivanted across Paris, I have made it to Chengdu! As of 2021, I am headed back to China, this time to Shanghai! Archives
March 2021
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