The Little Things

“It's the little things in life that make us happy.” Though I don't think our life's Joy is built off of just little occurrences here and there, there is certainly truth to this statement when it comes to living in China. Doing the simplest tasks here are often the most rewarding and happiness-bringing experiences. For example:

~We didn't quite make it to the bus door the other night when we were trying to get off at our stop. In the heat of the moment as the doors were closing I yelled in Chinese that we wanted to get off. The bus driver stopped the bus and opened the doors. I still don't know how that happened because usually in the heat of the moment all Chinese leaves my brain.

~I did laundry in a washing machine yesterday. Though that may not seem very exciting it was huge to me. I spent all of this past month washing my clothes in a sink or the shower. They took days to dry, and I'm not actually sure if I got them clean or not. Yesterday I discovered the drain cover in my bathroom floor is removable and the drain hose from the washer can be put inside the drain (this would have been great to discover before I ran a bleach load to clean out the machine so my whole bathroom didn't flood...You win some, you lose some!). I then navigated the Chinese character-covered buttons, put in laundry soap, and washed some of my clothes. I got to hang them from a makeshift line in my bedroom where they merrily danced in front of my air conditioner.  They were dry by morning.  Success!!

~I ordered a new dish for myself last night. I had major struggles in eating it. It was taking me forever to eat even though I ate pretty much nonstop, and because of that my teammate and I got to meet, talk to, and eat with two Chinese students.

~There was a typhoon today.  I'm not joking.  My teammates and I walked across campus laughing hysterically as our umbrellas were turned sideways to stop the rain.  We got to our destination only to discover that our plans to get our residence permits were postponed.  So we watched a movie at 9 in the morning instead.

~We met a student today who was close to last year's team.  We ate dinner with him, and heard his story and some amazing jokes.  We then got to sing him happy birthday! 

As I am still adjusting (and will be all year) to living in China these little bubbles of happiness are a huge blessing!  

Also, obviously, my internet is now finally working.  Hooray!  Expect an apartment tour soon! 

Love from Harbin,

Erin