Sunday morning. Catching up on work, listening to Gregorio Allegri’s Misere, YJ doing her yoga…and my neighbor drilling holes in the concrete right next to our apartment to install a window grate and air conditioning unit.
When I politely inquired why they chose Sunday morning at 8:00 to do this little home renovation project, they informed me that it was “convenient.”
The Chinese have a word “suzhi” (素质) for which there really isn’t any great English translation. Literally it means “quality” and is often used to describe people. Someone could be of “high quality” or “low quality.” The word represents–and this is what makes it hard to translate–an abstract tangle of a person’s character, manners, class, style, background, and education level. As with good or bad modern art, the criteria for “high” and “low” suzhi is not always easy to explain, but you know it when you see it.
Right now the people next door are displaying low suzhi and they’re betting HEAVILY that my suzhi is just high enough that I won’t go next door and beat them into unconsciousness with a softball bat.
Okay. I feel better now. Back to work.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Bill // Apr 28, 2007 at 8:02 pm
when you get up at 6am, 8am seems late. i think they assume everyone should have been up long ago. in fact, they may question your suzhi as a “lazy” laowai who sleeps far too late. who’s right?
2 花崗齋之愚公 // Apr 28, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Good question. If you read it again, you’ll note I was working, not sleeping. I’m up every morning around 5 and out the door at 5:15 to go jogging. They’re not usually stirring when I get back. Maybe it’s a new family moving in?
3 Bill // Apr 28, 2007 at 8:50 pm
fortunately i live in a building where they have well-enforced rules about noise. no renovation work before 9 or after 6, and not on weekends, though today is officially a work day in the runup to the may holiday. the folks who have tried the 8am weekend bs usually get smacked down fairly quickly. perhaps you should point your neighbors to a video (on sina or tudou) of what the iraqi insurgents can do with a power drill. being chinese, they should understand your subtle message.
speaking of suzhi, your lungs’ must be on the low end. the weather report for today specifically says 有霾
4 花崗齋之愚公 // Apr 28, 2007 at 11:40 pm
I hear you on the air “quality,” that’s the reason I get up so early. I actually prefer going after work but most days, especially between now and October, it’s just not comfortable. In the 5-6 time slot, the air is usually decent, or at least as good as it will be all year.
Sounds like your xiaoqu is a real community and that’s great. Hopefully our little complex can move in a similar direction.
Thanks for stopping by.
5 chubby // Apr 29, 2007 at 1:06 am
8am is not bad at all. My upstairs neighbor always starts rearranging his furniture around 11pm. Every fucking week.
6 無名 - wu ming // Apr 29, 2007 at 1:17 am
just as i read this, some drunk undergrads started bellowing outside my window at a passing car. suzhi indeed.
back at huaqing jiayuan, they would regularly jackhammer the other side of the concrete wall adjacent to my bed. i fucking slept in anyways, though, just to be stubborn. no way i’m getting up at 8am if i can manage it.
7 davesgonechina // Apr 30, 2007 at 11:27 am
I’m with you Wuming. I see no glory in rising early.
Hey J., I remember in your earliest posts you mentioned a semi-regular pilgrimmage to France… perhaps you’d be interested in this New Left article on French sinologists:
http://newleftreview.org/?page=article&view=2664
I have no idea who Jean-François Billeter or François Jullien are, but it’s an interesting read.
8 Chris // May 1, 2007 at 2:33 am
If it makes you feel better, I live with Russian exchange students. No jackhammers, just bad techno and far too much Michael Jackson well into the small hours. I’ve seen no evidence yet that they sleep.
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