Sometimes the frustrations of life in China (or anywhere, for that matter) just seem to pile up. In the three days since I returned to Beijing from a short strip to Minnesota, I have had to contend with the following:
1. My bedroom air conditioner has stopped working (as it does every August about this time).
2. The hot water in my building is off.
3. The back-up “shower box” that my landlady installed in case the hot water in my building goes off is broken.
4. Tiny ants have infested my rice and flour and sugar and who knows what else in my cupboards.
5. The compensation for a project I’m working on has been adjusted downward. Significantly.
6. My landlady suddenly raised my rent. Significantly.
As I was having my little pity party over all that this morning, a “tweet” by @John Piper popped up on my screen:
“I will complain, yet praise; / I will bewail, approve; / And all my sour-sweet days / I will lament, and love.” George Herbert
That’s it! I’m having a sweet and sour day!
And just so you think it hasn’t all been sour, after a lecture I gave this morning to a group of teachers newly arrived in China, one of the gals came up to me afterwards and told me she had heard me speak a couple of years ago and that is what inspired her to come to China.
And that, my friends, was enough sweet to cancel the sour!
(Oh, and my landlady sent me a text message today saying that a new air conditioner will be installed on Tuesday. Yes!)
Joann – So True! Honestly, I know everyone has “sour-sweet” days, but they seem to come more frequently when you live “where you don’t belong”! Thanks so much far sharing!
Yes, I’ve had those kind of sweet and sour days while living in Kazakhstan or Ukraine. Mine might be better described as oily and sticky days because that is the way the food is generally delivered. When you have one of those days, you know it