The Life of Mark

Okay, so here is the update on what’s been going on in my life….

• I have begun working shift work again. Here in China they work a weird shift where you work 2 – 12-hour day shifts, then 2 – 12-hour night shifts, and then get four days off. It is not the most convenient schedule when you live 2.5 hours away from your family. So, I just work the night shift. Right now one of my co-workers is on vacation so I have been working a lot more. My current shift rotation has been 4 nights, 4 days off, 4nights, 2days off, 6 nights, 2 days off, 4 nights, and then I will get my four days off again. Unfortunately, almost all of my rotations to work have been on the weekend. So, when I am home for the two days, I only see the kids for a few hours. Also, this means I do not get to go to church. Listening to Jay Childs is nice, but I miss the fellowship of hanging with the Body…
• I have a new ayi who cleans my apartment. I have yet to meet her, but I am sure I will someday. It’s kind of weird having someone in your apartment washing your underwear and you don’t even know who they are…I also haven’t been able to tell her where my clothes go when they are clean. She takes them from the hamper, washes them, hangs them in the spare bedroom to dry (my dryer is the wall heater unit blowing down on my clothes), and then folds them in a nice pile and places them back on top of the hamper. Eventually I think she will open the closet and find the rest of my clothes. However, at this point I am extremely blessed to not have to wash my own clothing and take care of it.
• I have been locked out of my apartment twice now. Not because I don’t have the key to get in, but because the bolts refuse to slide out of place. The first time I was assured the problem was fixed, the second time I received the same assurance but with a lot less confidence in the voice behind it. The only bonus is that I now know how to get in without the key. All I have to do is take the ½ hour to remove the bars off my bathroom window and then enter through it. The only problem with this plan is that the window is 5 feet off the ground and the toilet is directly below it. Yes, this presents the grand opportunity to give myself a swirlie when I enter…This has also prompted me to be more proactive in the flushing the toilet and closing the lid when I am done!
• My language skills have eroded some over the past month. We had weather problems and Chinese New Year, so I really didn’t need to speak any Chinese for a few weeks. I am just now starting to get back to where I was before all that happened. It is frustrating but worth it. The bonus for me was that the landlord fixed my water dispenser today and left a note for me. It was in pinyin (alphabet letters) and characters. I was able to read the pinyin and understand it.
  
  I know, pretty boring, but that’s what’s going on….Mark