New Year’s Day, In a New & Old Land

I remember one new year’s day. I locked myself out the college dormitory and had to call in a locksmith. This was nearly as dramatic as that. I realized this morning, we had a very dangerously low electricity reading on the meter. If I don’t charge the card with money and slide it in to fill the meter, the power would be shut off by the end of the day today. The machine will do the job, no room for negotiation. That’s how the system works in China now -- something new to me. You have to refill your meter and keep the power coming in. Not a bad system, in fact. I ran down to the kiosk to charge the card only to find that it was out of service. So I had to take a taxi and run to the bank to get it refilled. Thank goodness, the banks are even open on New Year's Day, another brand new thing for me to know.

On another note, I have been receiving tons of text messages to say “happy new year!” None of the messages appeared to be the original creation of the senders. I got one message that was repeated by 4 senders. It says something to this effect: No. One of the three year end blockbuster movies taught us that women are not to be counted on. No. Two taught us the brotherhood is not to be counted on. No. Three taught us the organization is not to be counted on. In the coming new year, I will count on you...

Oh, really?! Am I so out of the loop with my own culture? I still don't send text message on the cell phone. Besides, if I do send, what do I say to these? "Happy new year! Please count on me?" So I was sitting there the whole letting the message flow in, experiencing the stranging feeling of being a foreigner in your own country.