Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Fire extinguishers and why you shouldn't mess with them

Hello there!


Tragically, I have no pictures of the events that took place since my last post untill now.
You see, I have this friend, let's call him A. -I've mentioned him before, he's Dutch- who comes over quite often. One day, we were playing card games with some other friends and he decided that the best possible idea was to use the fire extinguisher to scare one of my other friends. To use it inside the house of course. I don't know what kind of extinguisher it was/is, but I gotta tell you, I now know more about that kind of extinguisher than I would have wanted to. Although it looked harmless enough the first minute (it seemed smoke-ish in density and looked like it was going to disappear quickly) it soon filled the room with a toxic-tasting smog that lasted for ten minutes. As we rushed to open all the windows in the apartment so we could breathe, the smog turned into dust- and soon, there was a centimetre of dust on every single surface of the house. Now that sounds kind of funny and it almost was, until we had to clean it: without A.'s help of course, because he reeeeally had to leave with his (girl)friend. And then the rest too, leaving only me and my old german friend from when I first started school here to clean the mess. It took us four full hours to clean the kitchen-anex-living room. First we took all the important stuff out of the room, put them into the only clean room of the house (my absent-roommates' room) and cleaned them- my computer, phones and camera's, the TV, every wire, etc. Then we took out all the other, larger things that were less important but small enough to be carried out- we put these into a little corridor I have which is never used and which was already completely dirty anyway. Next we moved all the furniture left in the room to one side and started cleaning the other side, after which we cleaned the furniture and put it back. It was horrible work, because it meant we were constantly breathing in the toxic-y fumes from that nasty extinguisher. Not only that, but we were also working in lower-than-0-degrees temperature because it was better than keeping the windows closed, wearing only T-shirts because all the coats were filled with dust and/or already in the washing machine. If I need to remind anyone, the temperatures here at night are around -15, but I must say I'm so used to my fingers, ears, nose and lips almost freezing off that I wasn't all too impressed. Have you ever tried to clean a lot of dust in an enclosed area? You clean and clean, but the dust just goes from one place to the other, so you have to start over and over again.
And this dust didn't even mix properly with water. Anyway, a frustrating 4 hours later I finally could sleep in a completely bare but dust-empty room, whilst the toilet, my room and the corridor were still a soul-clenching mess. The kitchen I tackled the next day, throwing away everything left open (sugar, salt, spices...) and doing all the dishes. The toilet came a few days after. My room took a bit longer, a bit longer than a week even, because it has so many little nooks and crannies that can get so dirty. As for the corridor, well... To be honest I left that to clean together with the cleaning man (!) that is hired by the U. school. I've never been so happy to see a person suddenly appear in my apartment. Poor guy. I would have given him a tip, but in China that is considered an offence- even in restaurants the waiters will not accept money left behind as a tip in any way. Which leads to complicated little issues- who gets the change if it can't be split into 14?
But why no pics, you might ask. Well, the only thing damaged by the incident turned out to be my trustworthy little camera, with pictures of the new year park fairs and our trip to KTV. I was very put off. You see, in China in the week after new year there are temple fairs. Certain parks (with temples in them) are filled to the brim with people, classic fair-games, vendors, food, drinks, little kitsch items (Chinese love those!) and other things. I had my fun- I am proud to say I am now the owner of a panda-head-carpet (not REAL, of course, come on guys), a teddy-bear head hat, weird mugs and some pretty feathers. Yes, I am pathetic, but it's fun and oh well, my house needed some decorating.
I'm sorry for the late and incomplete update, but this little alien's health is not doing very well and she should get some sleep. Remind me to tell you of my fun trip to KTV next time! And I'll try to make some pictures of my now-kindof-decorated room, somehow!


Love,


Soof

9 comments:

  1. Haha you've been in a place with similar conditions once, but you were too small to remember: When you were 11 months old we went to Abuela's farm in the south. The house had been empty for a couple of years after the Hudson (volcano)'s ashes ruined the area. We got in with your Dad and Michiel and spent hours just cleaning

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hola Sofi!!! Soy Susy la hija de Vasquita. Espero que me ubiques. Quiero felicitarte por esta página! Fabulosa!!! Además tuviste una brillante idea asi vas compartiendo con tus afectos tu "dia a día". Lo que contás del matafuegos es terrrriiiiiible!!! Imagino lo que habrá sido limpiar eso! Como dice tu madre, debe ser parecido a las cenizas del volcan cuando entran en erupcion. No sé si sabrás que entró en erupción un volcán chileno que se llama Pyehue. Las cenizas llegaron a todo el país, vuelos suspendidos...en fin, caos absoluto. Pero cada uno con su tema, Kuky (quien vive en Trelew) me contaba que era imposible mantener los muebles, libros, cuadros, adornos, y todos los etcétera que hay en una casa grande, libres de una fina capa de polvo en forma permanente. Mirá que hizo hacer como una especie de "gusanos de tela rellenos con arena" para poner abajo de las puertas, sellaron las ventanas y el polvo finísimo entra igual!! Terminás de limpiar y al rato está igual! Que ingrato y frustrante, no? Pobre Sofi! Cuanto trabajo!!! Te cuento que estuve una semana en Miramar (justo antes de tu cumple). Le dejé a Elsa bien claro tu nro de
    teléfono y me dijo mamá se pudieron comunicar. Y ahora como tu madre: Cómo lo pasaste? Hiciste algun festejo especial?
    Otra cosa que quería contarte es que Juan mi hijo está en Europa, recorriendo desde el 5 de Enero y este próximo sábado (llegaría para el cumple de tu padre) o domingo viajará de Bruselas donde está ahora a Amsterdam, donde tus padres -muy generosamente- lo alojarán, sugerirán lugares, etc. Te mando un beso grandísimo y espero este texto "salga" jaja! Susy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fijn dat je het weer schoon gekregen hebt. Het is zoals ik het hoor een z.g. poederblusser. Als je daar teveel van inademt kun je ook gerust op het toilet gaan zitten, want dat spul werkt op je darmen.
    Ik hoop dat je inmiddels een beetje bent opgeknapt?

    gr. Wilma

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, and when you were 11 months, in the dust of the vulcano, we just kept you in our arms for the three or so days we were there because this volcano dust was too sharp for a baby's skin ...

    Wessel

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haha, history repeats itself ^^.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh haha dat effect heb ik gelukkig niet meegekregen. Maar het gaf een vreselijke smaak in je mond!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hola Susy!
    Perdón por my castellano, la verdad que nunca aprendí a escribir, pero prefiero no dejar de responder solo por eso, entonces acá va:
    Claro que te ubicuo! Gracias, estuvo muy bueno mi cumple. Organice un dinner con un montón de gente, como 17 al final, y después salimos para tomar algo con todos. Pero si, es exactamente así, limpias y limpias pero no cambia nada. Ademas me da la idea que acá en Beijing hay mas polvo andando por ahí que en Holanda por ejemplo- dentro de un día todo lo que limpias se llena de polvo. Creo que es porque estamos en una zona muy seca, cerca de unos desiertitos. Dicen que de vez en cuando hay sandstorms en Beijing, pero todavía no he visto ninguno.
    Me contaron mis papas que Juan esta por ahí! Que lindo! Arreglé con una amiga que porahí lo puede llevar a visitar unos lugares divertidos cerca de casa, y porahí también lo puede entretener mi amigo (el que llevé a Argentina), se conocen y todo. Que pena que no voy a estar yo para verlo!
    Besos!! Gracias por ayudarla a mi abuela con lo de llamarme, puede ser complicado a veces con llamadas entre países ;-).

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sofi!!!! Tu castellano es perfecto!!! Increible!! Solo un par de letras que pueden ser errores de tipeo. Gracias por responderme en castellano. Juan llego anoche a Buenos Aires, encantado con Holanda y la calidez con que tus padres y Tommy lo recibieron. ahora "le paso" el teclado -jaja- para que te cuente un poco si hizo algo con tu amigo. creo que si, que salieron. besote enorme Sofi! Es una maravilla como escribis y lo descriptiva que sos. Tiene razòn tu madre...es posible "ver" los lugares y personas mientras uno lee tus descripciones.

    hola sofi como andas? jerry? como fue el tema de las vacunas? la verdad que lindisimos dias en holanda, como ya te conte.... el paseo por noordwijk (no recuerdo muy bien como se escribe) tambien muy lindo y divertido.
    espero que estes muy bien, seguimos en contacto!!
    un beso grande

    ReplyDelete