Bed Warmers and Gas

Monday, November 24. Here's something interesting: My lesson plan this week revolves around Thanksgiving (naturally), and one of the things I'm having the kids do is make a "gratitude list." They have to think up at least one thing they are thankful for beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Then we've been putting some of them on the board, and when we get to "G," several of the kids have mentioned "God." When I relate this to Mr. Zhang later, he says that some students may in fact be Christian but that even those who aren't may believe in "God" as a sort of "higher power." Unexpected but nice.

Very foggy this morning. Cold and damp (The Sounds of Silence, anyone? "I turned my collar to the . . . "). But it's 1 p.m. now, and the sun is trying valiantly to come out. Moreover, I plugged the AC/heating unit back in and it seems to be working again. So my office is all the way back up to 64 degrees or so! Heavenly.

Bed Warmer. The AC/heating unit in my bedroom works but doesn't seem to put out any heat (although it did a great job with the a/c in the hot weather whereas the one in the office would work for a little while but then start dripping water). That isn't so important as I prefer to sleep in a cool room. Especially now that I have my little bed-warmer. This is an amazing contraption, something I've never seen in the U.S. It's a small rectangle, cloth-covered (in my case, black corduroy covered with little Babars!) "pillow" that is filled with some sort of gel-like substance. There is a special plug on the pillow and a cord that connects to both the pillow and a regular outlet or extension cord. Obviously, it is set up this way so you cannot attach any other cord to the pillow except the one it comes with. So about 15 minutes before you get into bed, you put it between the sheets and plug it in. Eventually, there are small sounds like the gel is bubbling, and then it shuts off automatically. You then unplug it, hop into bed, put the little pillow where you want it (e.g. next to your feet), and the darn thing stays warm all night! It stays hot (literally) until after I have fallen asleep. Of course, it cools down during the night and by morning, it's barely warm, but I can still feel some heat from it. All I need now is one of those long "body pillows" and I would have all the best parts of sleeping with someone! :)

A "Gas" Outing. This afternoon, Mr. Zhang accompanies me to the gas company office so we can get a new gas card for my apartment. (You need a card in order to add money to your "account.") Apparently, when James (WT teacher who was here last year) left, he didn't return the card to Mr. Z so I had to pay 15 yuan for a new one! While we are there, I also "add" money to the account so I hope I will be all set for awhile. During the winter, I would hate to suddenly run out of gas while taking a shower!

We take a taxi to the office because I am worried about being back in time for Teacher Training. However, despite the fact that there is a mob of people in line at the office, most are waiting to set up a new account, so we finish relatively quickly. (Needless to say, I could not have accomplished this on my own.) So we take the bus back to school and bask in the winter sunshine while waiting for it to come. A lovely afternoon to be out.