Solar-Powered Tea Kettle

I climbed a mountain the other weekend with my English friend Andy. The scenery was pretty, the weather was ok, and climbing was fun, but the best part of the trip (besides finally speaking English and freely complaining about teaching methods at the university) was visiting an old man who lives on the mountain and keeps up a Buddhist temple.



Andy and I stopped to say hi to this guy, and we ended up sitting and talking to him for a while. The main subject of our conversation was this cool contraption that the man has set up. Since he has no electricity, he has this reflector panel that concentrates the sun’s rays on the bottom of a tea kettle, and this is how he boils water. (And I thought frying ants with a magnifying glass was BA…)

It just so happened that as we arrived at his home, he was putting the kettle on. As we finished our conversation, the water was just starting to boil. Perfect timing.

This man was really baffled as to why I kept asking about how he boils water, and Andy also doesn’t think it’s cool as I do... What do you think?

Homesickness

I have been in China for a month and I haven't been homesick. I don't even miss anything from America. Sure, the ice cream, chocolate, coffee, and bread are pretty lame here. I rarely hear English. It's dirty everywhere. I can't drink the water or eat fruit. But I don't care.

Really, I don't.

If I said I didn't miss my family, that wouldn't be true. But it's no different than when I'm at college in America. Last semester in the states I went home three times, during breaks. This semester I'm just not going home.

I know it's harder on my family because they worry about me more here than when I was in America. But in some ways, I feel safer here. For example, there are so many people on the streets at all hours that I can go out at night if I want. And I didn't like walking around campus after dark in the U.S...

Maybe the reason that I haven't been missing the U.S., though, is because I've been with other westerners a lot lately. It's awesome to be in China with people from so many different countries, but I get really excited about talking with other people from America. We have so much in common just because of where we're from. There's a basic understanding and common ground between all of us, and it's so refreshing.

Chinese Water

The water in China is not safe to drink unless it has been boiled. It contains bacteria and other contaminants, so even the native Chinese cannot consume it.

Water is obviously very necessary for life, so everywhere I go I see large thermoses for transporting and storing water that has been boiled. Strangely, I've only ever seen one model of thermos. Someone must have a monopoly on the industry in China. Anyway, students walk around campus with the thermoses, I see them on the city streets, in the train stations, in bathrooms, and in restaurants. The images in my mind of China will always have these multicolored thermoses.

I personally do not have one of these ubiquitous Chinese thermoses. In my room I have a device for boiling water. I'm guessing that the name of it is obvious, but I can't think of what it might be. Anyway, it's like a hot plate attached to a liter pitcher. It boils the water in a minute or so and keeps it hot all day. My roommate and I drink so much tea, though, that we refill it multiple times every day.

In restaurants, boiled water is served to drink. I have gotten used to drinking plain hot water all the time. I actually can't remember if that's considered weird in America, so I thought I'd mention it. And, drinks are not served with ice. It seems counter-productive to boil water and then freeze it just so a drink is a little colder. I don't miss ice. It now seems unnecessary, like shower curtains, hot water at all hours, and western toilets. Go ahead and laugh at me.