Necessity is the mother of all invention
There are some things that are much easier to do in China. For example, getting the heel of a shoe fixed or a broken zipper replaced is an easy matter. However, there are many tasks that for various reasons are trickier or more time consuming in China. Life here just sometimes requires a bit of creativity–especially in making items serve purposes they were not originally intended for. Below are a few of my favorite “inventions” that make my life easier:
The Mesh Garment bag
Not only is the mesh garment bag useful for washing your delicates, it also serves well as a container for Ziploc bags. As I’ve written before, Ziploc bags are worth their weight in gold over here (since we cannot purchase them in our city). Consequently, they get washed and reused many times. I got tired of a haphazard pile of Ziplocs in my drawer, so one day came up with this system. Two hooks attached to the back of a cabinet door and a garment bag was all it took for instant organization.
Garment bags have also revolutionized my system of washing lettuce. Washing, rinsing, and drying lettuce used to be such a pain that I rarely made salads. However, I then discovered that if you contained all of the lettuce within a garment bag, then put it in a tub of soapy water, and then rinsed it in the sink while still in the bag the process became much more manageable. The next step and creative re-purposing was my teammate Jennifer’s idea. When she first told me, I thought she was crazy. Then I tried it. And my life has never been the same. How do you dry the garment bag full of wet lettuce? Throw it in the spinner section of the washing machine. Our machines have two sections, a washing “bowl” and a spinning “bowl”. The spinner is much faster than machines in the states, getting most water out of clothes (or lettuce). Making salads has never been easier!
Plastic file holders
My kitchen is quite small, and I have a grand total of three drawers. Consequently, drawer space is at a premium and I had trouble fitting everything in. Then one day I figured out this plastic file holder was the perfect size to hold Saran wrap, aluminum foil, rolls of garbage bags, and Ziploc boxes (thanks to a generous father I have an entire box of Ziplocs…I lead a blessed life!).
Baby Strollers
At the start of every semester, we make books for our writing and oral classes based on the curriculum we’ve created. This means that we have to pick up 270 books from the copy center and transport them to the teaching buildings. Last year, Rachel and I discovered the perfect system: baby strollers. The “double-wide” from the Clements and the single stroller from the Wus are the perfect size for one set of books. You should see the stares we get pushing them through campus–people do a double take when they realize our precious cargo isn’t small children.
Sweater boots
These are my absolute favorite invention; however, I can’t take any credit for them. In fact, I was quite opposed to them at first sight. This winter as I was shopping for boots, I was frustrated when the only ones I could find in my size had this tacky sweater material attached to them. The plainer boots I really wanted were just a tad bit small. However, I have since fallen in love with my sweater boots. The extra layer of warmth on my legs is the perfect solution to the frigid weather we have here. (And lest you think I’ve lost all fashion sense since moving to China, the sweater remains quite hidden under my pants–although I’m quite sure the original intention of the boot maker was a loud and colorful statement.)
Hi. Just found your site via Tasty Kitchen, and am encouraged by your ‘Pilgrim’s Life’ and your desire to trust His path for you. As a 20-something looking towards graduate school I’m asking some big questions about my own path.
Blessings!