Terrifying. Easily the most terrifying experience I’ve had so far in China. I took a shower this morning. (All good stories start that way.) While in the shower I was singing thinking about the ridiculous amount of work that I should have done yesterday. Life was good. Then everything changed… I had just put shampoo in my hair (and finished singing Redemption Song in broken Chinese) when the water pressure became very very low. It then became a reasonable water pressure (meaning 3 times the normal water pressure here.) This seemed strange. I reached for a towel and rubbed just enough soap from my face so that I could open my eyes. Everything was yellow. All of the water was yellow, the floor of the tub was yellow, the drops of soapy water falling from my head were yellow. I immediately knew that my liver had exploded. I’ve been watching pirated episodes of House. If anything is yellow (and I mean anything) then the liver is leaking. If everything is yellow there must have been an explosion. While trying discover where so much liquid could have burst from my body without me noticing I turned around and found the shower raining me in yellow water. I don’t mean slightly yellow water. I mean Oak yellow. Aslan mane yellow. It was the kind of water that was in Atlantis in the third Aladdin movie after they drop the hand of Midas. I stepped back covered in soap and watched. I cupped some in my hands and smelled. It didn’t smell like sewage; that was a relief. Ten minutes later it returned to clear water, I rinsed hesitantly, dressed, and ran downstairs to ask if other people had had the same thing. Lydia said she had and claimed that it was rust from the pipes. I tell you this, either the pipes are made out of gold or that’s just what They want you to think. Sorry I’ve been behind on the posting this last stretch of the Tianjin program is miserable. 2 finals, 1 final essay, and packing. I can’t wait till Thursday. Feedback, as always, is encouraged, requested, and begged for.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Saturday 10/17/08
Terrifying. Easily the most terrifying experience I’ve had so far in China. I took a shower this morning. (All good stories start that way.) While in the shower I was singing thinking about the ridiculous amount of work that I should have done yesterday. Life was good. Then everything changed… I had just put shampoo in my hair (and finished singing Redemption Song in broken Chinese) when the water pressure became very very low. It then became a reasonable water pressure (meaning 3 times the normal water pressure here.) This seemed strange. I reached for a towel and rubbed just enough soap from my face so that I could open my eyes. Everything was yellow. All of the water was yellow, the floor of the tub was yellow, the drops of soapy water falling from my head were yellow. I immediately knew that my liver had exploded. I’ve been watching pirated episodes of House. If anything is yellow (and I mean anything) then the liver is leaking. If everything is yellow there must have been an explosion. While trying discover where so much liquid could have burst from my body without me noticing I turned around and found the shower raining me in yellow water. I don’t mean slightly yellow water. I mean Oak yellow. Aslan mane yellow. It was the kind of water that was in Atlantis in the third Aladdin movie after they drop the hand of Midas. I stepped back covered in soap and watched. I cupped some in my hands and smelled. It didn’t smell like sewage; that was a relief. Ten minutes later it returned to clear water, I rinsed hesitantly, dressed, and ran downstairs to ask if other people had had the same thing. Lydia said she had and claimed that it was rust from the pipes. I tell you this, either the pipes are made out of gold or that’s just what They want you to think. Sorry I’ve been behind on the posting this last stretch of the Tianjin program is miserable. 2 finals, 1 final essay, and packing. I can’t wait till Thursday. Feedback, as always, is encouraged, requested, and begged for.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Hi Noah!
Your blog is SO wonderful! Thank you so much for taking the time to update. I am really enjoying all of your posts and the shower story is a bit sketchy, but I think that you going to Beijing wearing soaking wet clothes is more sketchy. Stay safe and sane:) -Jinai
Jinai, you are a saint.
Noah, you are doing a great job of relating the China experience in technicolor detail! The blog is hilarious and informative-- thank you!
Sally warren Jackson
Your friend is correct. discoloration in the water is usually due to metal in the water. Iron can cause water to turn brown, red, and yellow(or a combination of these). Iron in the water also poses no known health risks and although the US does have maximum iron content levels, it is for aesthetic rather than health reasons. Sounds like China is fun tho.
I'm impressed, Noah. What an amazing time you're having -- and you haven't lost your wonderful sense of humor, which I'm sure comes in very handy. I love the shower story - I immediately thought of sewage. Have you ever taken a shower in Kokee? Rust happens here, too! See you soon. I'll bet you'll be sad to leave.
Post a Comment