When I got back to the house the kids were still there...apparently Nong Kaicheng was going for an English lesson until 10.30 so the kids weren't going in till then either. As Tan stayed out I got my lunch in the form of a small bag of diao zi (something like steamed dumplings) for 3.5 kuai and ate them at home. They were accompanied by a couple of cans of the local brew Li Quan as it is weak and thirst quenching and about the only fizzy beverage that is not full of sugar here. Normally I would have been able to sleep after such a lunch but try as I might I couldn't drop off. At about 3pm I suddenly heard the sound of a drill that felt as though it was six inches away from my head. Any last thoughts I may have had about a snooze were dashed into a thousand pieces.
I really like the way that houses are so personalised here, but there is a severe consequence. It takes several weeks to prepare and personalise a new house after purchasing; it took us six weeks last year, but many people go so far as to knock down walls in order to have a larger room etc. Especially with most families having one child the smallest bedroom is often either turned into a walk-in wardrobe or smashed in to make a larger dining area. All this preparation is called "zhuang xiu" - it literally translates as "decoration" but it is much more than that. And it is very noisy. You can tell there are still many flats in our building to be decorated because the lifts still have wooden covers over the walls and floor in order to protect against the various pieces of building equipment being taken up and down. The drill that I heard reminded me of where we stayed last year in Er Jie's house; from the early morning till gone 6pm, with the exception of lunch, there was a constant cacophany of drilling and hammering which we somehow eventually got used to. I feared the worst, but the drilling only lasted a couple of minutes. Touch wood that's the last we hear, however looking out from our balcony I can see next door has not even started decorating, the same as the one below that. I just hope they wait until September before they do.
Tan rang at 5pm to remind me that we were eating at Da jie's new flat as a sort of house-warming. But she had to come to the flat to change and shower so we were going to be late. Then we had to pick up the kids so we ended up getting there at 6pm. Da Jie's flat is more of a maisonette, or at least two floors at the top of the building. The one problem is that you have to walk up the 6 floors to get there as there's no lift and in this heat it's quite sweat-inducing.
The food was sumptuous and there was lots left over to feed the household for the next day or two. While the kids were playing I received a call from A Hua saying Nong Kaicheng was going swimming and to take the kids. I thought that was a good idea and as the swimming pool was visible from the house we were in I made a quick trip home to pick up the kids' costumes and met them at the pool. I happened to have my swimming shorts on. Not to go swimming, just because they were clean. As it happened this was a good idea as although Nong Kaicheng and A Da were there to help Leilei still lacks confidence in the water (which being outside was a nice temperature). So I was able to give my phone and money to A Ni and strip off and get in the pool to be with Xixi as the shallowest part was just a little deep for her. Leilei, knowing I was around, was ok to spend time with the boys, who were encouraging him to get swimming. I really hope he does this year, as it's looking like Xixi will be soon...
No comments:
Post a Comment