One (Wo)man's Trash...

It didn't take me too long to get comfortable and settled in at my new apartment. For one, I was really lucky - a foreign teacher had lived in my place last year. That meant my kitchen and bookshelf was pretty much fully stocked.

I did need to get used to certain things though.

The cement floors, the shower (aka my entire bathroom), and the lack-of-a-dryer-for-my-clothes, you all already know about. So what's new?

Eh... the closet in my second bedroom had a couple of really old blankets. They were a little moldy and smelly. I felt horrible throwing them out, but I didn't know what else to do with them. After holding on to them for about a month or so, I decided that it was time to take action. I buckled down, folded up one of the blankets and headed outside to place it next to the big trash can.

One down. Two or three more to go. I went back inside. Got another one. Went back outside and... WHA?

Wait... where did the other blanket go? It had vanished. I... just shrugged, put it down, and went back inside. Grabbed something else. Went back outside. And-

Again. The second blanket was gone. I slowly walked up to the trash can and looked around. I couldn't see anyone nearby. I set down the bunch of pillow cases that I had onto the floor and walked slowly back. This time, I hid by my door and waited...

An older lady walked out from a building further down the street. She saw the things there and walked over. Picked them up... and turned back. She was picking up and bringing home everything that I was throwing out.

I stuck my head out and asked if she needed any help.

She shook her head and looked at me. "Why are you throwing all this out?"

I was a little embarrassed. A little ashamed, too, when I stuttered out an excuse. "It's.. eh.. I'm just cleaning up. Just moved in." When she gave me a confused look, I gestured towards the stuff that she was holding. "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Yes. Where are you from?" (Because I have a weird accent, apparently, when I speak Chinese).

"America. I am an English teacher at the university."

"Oh. Well. Come by my place anytime you want to. I live on the first floor at the end of this street."

"Ok. Wait. Eh.. what do I call you?"

"Call me A Yi (Aunt)."

"All right. Thank you. Have a good afternoon."

She nodded and carried her things back home.

After that point, I started paying more attention to how quickly trash vanishes. Even my plastic bags get pulled out of the garbage and rooted through. Plastic bottles, glass, and paper products are taken out - I was told to recycle just by leaving things next to the trash can inside of putting them in it. People get paid for everything they bring to the recycling center, so there's a clamber for certain kinds of trash.

And then... of course, in the early days when I was cleaning up, I threw away a lot of stuff (mostly moldy pots and pans) that other people took and brought home with them.

I think the garbage can outside my house is one that a lot of people root through... just because there are three foreigners living right near it. I guess... sometimes we just don't realize how much we waste until other people find it and take it right back out of the garbage can.

With that lesson in mind... today, I happened to break a glass cup. So I very carefully placed it and all of its pieces in a plastic bag separately from everything else. I didn't want anyone rooting through my trash only to accidentally cut themselves on it. Anyway, I haven't seen A Yi since that day... but that is definitely something that I'll remember for a long time.