These Are the Things I Can Do Without *

After another quiet weekend, it's hard to find very much to say. There is, for example, very little to say about Saturday. It was a good day. In fact, it was a great day--for being productive. I woke up before my alarm because I was worried about having to much to do and never getting any of it done. Then I got down to work, and I spent all day writing. That's it. That was Saturday. Not much of a story, is it?

So let us leave me tapping away at the computer, and turn to a bit of an overview on my life in China. I do that more rarely than probably some of you would like, so I thought that this time I would make a short post about ten things I am used to having in the States but don't have here.

1. A drier. No one has a drier. Everyone dries their clothes by hanging up a clothesline somewhere in their room. And you know what? It works great. It is absolutely no problem at all. You have to plan ahead a bit, because it takes 12-24 hours between the time you start a load of wash and the time that load of wash gets done. But you get used to it fast. No one who lives in a place where they need a humidifier should need a drier too, and that's what I have to say on the subject. We could save a lot of electricity this way.

2. A microwave. Actually, we didn't have one in Chicago either, but I'd always had one before that. The uses of microwaves are actually quite limited, or would be if they didn't sort of invent their own uses. The only thing a microwave really does that's hard to do without it is defrosting meat. And since I almost never cook meat at home--and here, never!--that's not a problem. As for popcorn, you know what? You can make great popcorn in a heavy pot on the stove with a little olive oil. I never knew this until Pocket of Bolts told me. Or there's always Jiffypop, which is fun but a bit strenuous. I have an electric kettle for hot water. And what else is a microwave good for anyway?

3. Plastic wrap. They sell it here but I just haven't had any need for it at all. I think this is the result of having fewer leftovers here though.

4. A conventional oven. Now that, I miss. In fact, it's nearly one of the things I can't do without. I love to make and eat pie. It's a family recipe, and a family tradition. I eat pie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Chinese people, on the other hand, do not seem to eat pie. None, zero. The only thing that even begins to approximate pie is egg custard tarts, which are egg custard in a tart crust. But I like fruit pie. I like chewy chocolate chip cookies, but they seem to prefer crunchy ones. And no one cooks with butter here--all pastries seem to be made with some disgusting oil that has a slight whiff of artificial coconut. If it weren't for chocolate bars, my sweet tooth would be just about cured by now. But I realize, not having an oven, that it's not only dessert that I like to make. I like casserole, and roasted vegetables, and quiche. I like spanakopita (a lot). I like lasagna. In fact, almost everything I enjoy cooking requires the use of an oven, which I suppose is why it's been hard to get into cooking here!

5. A food processor. I don't miss it so much, although we had two back home! However, I am a pickier eater in the U.S. Most of the things we used the food processor for were pureed soups or Pocket of Bolts' really good salsa. Now I am not picky and eat my soup without pureeing it. As for salsa, anything that even slightly tastes like Mexican food makes me want to weep with homesickness, so chopping up onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and cilantro is a close enough approximation, without the refinements like pureeing garlic and tomatillos and whatever other secret ingredients Pocket of Bolts used to use in his salsa base. It would be cool to make a smoothie now and then, but now worth actually buying an appliance for it.

6. Toaster. Okay, I do miss toast. And a toaster oven would stand in well enough for a conventional oven. But I haven't made up my mind to buy one. I used to be able to make toast in a decently heavy pan on the stove, but I don't have one of those either.

7. Buying new clothes. I have been here for over five months, and have bought only long underwear. Nothing else fits me (actually the long underwear is a bit dicey as well). And although I went through a brief phase of being sick of everything I owned--after all, I only brought the clothes that could fit in one suitcase, where they had to share space with books as well, and half of them were summer clothes that I can't wear now--I am totally used to it. I am more convinced than ever that our attitude toward clothes is completely messed up, and a cruel conspiracy to waste our time and mental energy. I just don't think about clothes right now. It doesn't even register in my mind. I have one or two Slightly Nicer outfits, which I wear if I am going to meet anyone I know. Otherwise, I just grab whatever's handy and temperature-appropriate.

8. Nylon stockings. Forgot to bring any, haven't had occasion to wear a skirt anyway!

9. Shaving cream. They do sell it here, but I just can't be bothered to buy it somehow.

10. Forks. I'm sure they sell them somewhere, but I haven't seen any. As a result, I don't have any, except for a couple of the tiny disposable plastic ones that come in bucket-ramen. I use these to scramble my eggs.

Okay, we now return to your regularly scheduled blog post, which is me wrapping up my unusually super-productive day and giving myself a well-earned rest. Yes, I confess it: on Saturday I did not leave my apartment AT ALL, all day. :P

* Yeah, I know that in the song it means "There are the things I would like to do without." And some of the things on the above list I would really like to have, an oven being really the most sorely missed, and this mostly because of my desire for pie... however, it still makes some kind of sense.