i lay on my friend's bed, tired and exhausted, watching her handwash her sweater. to us westerners, it's apparently something we would do if we couldn't do it in a machine. though, as i was there in my friend's bedroom, in about 10 minutes of her time, she is handwashes her sweater because that's what she has been doing for all of life, handwashing her clothes.
my girl, grace, does the same in toronto. of course, now i realize the absurdity of her not using a machine is not really absurd. grace is from malaysia, and i assume now that that's what people traditionally do there, as do people china, also. hell, they probably do it in some parts in canada, -i don't know. washing all your clothes by hand.. yikes.
i had mentioned this before.. about washing feet before you go to bed. it's customary for chinese people to do it in a small plastic tub. there's something more i gathered since being here. i had been in china for 14 months already. of course, being a foreign teacher, i have a 3 piece bathroom. in china, it's a luxury. bathrooms are luxury.
i had stayed at a student's home in a village where all they had was the village outhouse. i really couldn't use it, especially in the dark at night, and i'm sure smelly, so i just didn't. don't ask me how, but i relieved a lot later on.
i didn't wonder how they had to clean themselves then, but i found out a lot later on. on a walk to my favourite muslim grilled food in jincheng, my dear good friend wei chi explained to me that in some family homes, there is no bathroom. if they wanted to bathe themselves, they'd have to fork out money to go to the public bathhouse. if they want someone to help them scrub themselves down, they'd paid extra.
i recalled something else that i had mentioned in a previous entry. being at the community swimming pool, everyone was cleaning themselves down rigourously. and i had mentioned how ms. du asked me if i wanted a scrub? well. to me, i always prefer to shower at home. so i would wait, but these chinese ladies would do the whole works in the women's shower area in the centre. soap and shampoo and whatever.
having stayed at ms. du's when visiting jincheng two weeks ago, i understood more about the "phenomenon." for some people, they just don't have a modern shower at home. this was the case at ms. du's. actually, i lived a few nights there relieving myself in the outhouse in the back. it was humbling and i dare not sit. the outhouse wasn't as smelly as it could be, but it wasn't entirely comfortable half-way standing over a questionable modern toilet.
the sink i used was in the kitchen, which was just a room with a table. her produce was in the shelf under it. i didn't shower for a few days, until i returned to taiyuan.
for one of those nights, i stayed at a former student/girl friend's room. she had rented it for about 120 yuan (which is about $17 cdn) per month. i had actually seen a place like this before of another former student. it wasn't as nice, but it was only 50 yuan ($7.50 cdn) per month. anyhow. this traditional courtyard style home didn't have a full bathroom. it had a squat toilet room, but very well maintained. i still don't get how people clean themselves. probably in a way with warm water and a towel. it's very different here, in the "old country."
i had been to homes where if they had bathrooms, it would have a sink, a toilet, and a shower area. it is rare for a family to have a bathtub here. for me, the first city i was in, i was happy with the bathroom they gave me. now, in another, i'm stuck with a small room; toilet and shower. the bathroom sink is, for some reason, in another area of the house, but next to the washing machine. i have a separate kitchen sink which is good. in addition, the bathroom floor is unfinished. i just wear plastic slippers in there when douching. fun times.
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