A/C in the house and the value of time

Up at 5am after two and a half hours' sleep - yet again couldn't get back to sleep so I got up. The routine of getting breakfast for all came and went, and Xixi went to Jiuma's place as per usual. I was just waiting till midday so I could have some lunch and get a siesta, so at around 10.30am I gave Lin Hong a ring as I had decided to buy the standalone air-conditioning unit for our bedroom in the new flat, even if the only one available was the display model we saw on Saturday. Tan was due to come home in the afternoon and I wanted her to be comfortable in at least one room if she fancied a snooze. However, Lin Hong was busy in a meeting, and said she'd call back at 11.30am. I had hoped not to hear that as I was looking forward to a nap soon after, but it was kind of her to say she would help. She actually called soon after midday, and came to pick me up a minute later. We drove to ai yi's electric shop again and this time the actual ai yi in question was there. She told me in no uncertain terms that the air coolers would not be sufficient for our bedrooms. I explained that the rooms were small but she wasn't having any of it. Finally we agreed that she would come to see our place. So much for a midday nap.

Lin Hong drove ai yi and me to the new flat, and ai yi was suitably impressed by it. Only after seeing the rooms did she agree that we didn't need fully-fledged A/C for every one. But I did agree that a wall-mounted unit would be handy for the main bedroom, and we were told we could have one fitted for 1600 kuai. I thought "why not?", and was told to wait in the house for half an hour for some workers to come and sort it out. I wanted to first get some something to read while waiting so popped back to Er Jie's house, as I'd been told the workers would first ring me so they would know I was there to let them in. When I got back 20 minutes later I found I'd forgotten the key, I had a load of stuff I'd brought from Er Jie's house, and I didn't fancy lugging it back, not that there was anyone home anyway to let me in. So I rang Lin Hong to ask if she could come round and she said she'd be there in a couple of minutes. Two minutes later two workmen arrived with an A/C unit. I asked which floor they were going to and they said the 14th - so much for calling me first. I explained that I was waiting for someone with the key to open the door and they said not to worry and went upstairs. I called Lin Hong again who said she was about to arrive, something that didn't happen for another 15 minutes. Not that the workmen seemed to mind though.

Time does not seem to equate to money here. It really is cheap labour. This is something that permeates the culture and has taken me some time to get used to. People just expect that you have time on your hands. I think it may even have something to do with the frequent miscommunication I see (among Chinese as well, not just with me); it appears that even if what you are told is wrong, then it's just wrong and you find out what is correct a bit later. A simple example of this would be if you asked where a certain shop was and were told it was "down that road for one minute on the left", but you found out later it was the opposite direction for five minutes. You would have lost a few minutes of your time, which here may not be as much perceived value as it would be in the West.

Anyway, while I was waiting in the car park for Lin Hong I got a phone call from her saying she was in the flat. Somehow our paths must have crossed and I missed her. So I got to the flat to find the two workmen unwrapping the A/C unit and its accompanying fan housing. It took no more than an hour from start to finish, during which time one of the blokes climbed out from our 14th floor balcony and hopped onto some supporting structure to start drilling holes for the fan structure. He was not insane, though, and had a rope around his waist that was firmly secured to the balcony bars. Still, he did not obey the "don't look down" law, though it didn't seem to affect him. By around 3pm the job was done and all I had to do was sign my name "Peng Duoming" and serve them some glasses of water before saying thank you and goodbye.


I said "don't look down!"

I was about to have some shut-eye under the cool of the A/C, but got a call from Tan, who had got back from Nanning and was outside the front door with Leilei; apparently I had not heard them knocking. I was shattered by this stage so went back to Er Jie's house to get a well-earned siesta. I had planned to go out in the evening with Tan to get a fridge but by the time I got up it was a little late. We will no doubt have arguments as to where it is best placed. I still say in between the xie gui and the water dispenser, she will probably say in the kitchen even though there isn't much room. As I'd had a late siesta I popped out to the seafood place for a bite to eat after midnight, and when still couldn't get to sleep later I watched some of the Man U - Newcastle game that kicked off at 3am.