On Dollars and Degrees

I've seen from various websites that anywhere between one-third to one-half of the world's population lives on about $2 per day.

I am currently living on about $18 a day. This is quite enough to afford me the semi-luxurious lifestyle of taking taxis and more or less eating every meal out.

Since I don't have to pay for housing, most of my dollars go towards the next most important expense, food. As I mentioned, I eat almost all meals out. Aside from not knowing what half of the items in our grocery store are, my kitchen is also lacking in equipment. I have one "hot plate" that cooks at various degrees of hotness and is more likely to burn a dish than cook it evenly. There is no microwave, no oven, no toaster - just the hot plate.

While I live quite comfortably on my daily $18, it is interesting to break it down and think of. Likely, most full-time workers in the United States make more in one hour of work than my daily salary. Many others in China make less. The students especially are surprised that I can afford to eat out daily and usually treat myself to Pizza Hut once a week.

I have heard that Tallahassee has been enjoying some cooler "fall" weather lately. We too have had a slight, but noticeable drop in the thermometer. In the mornings and evenings, the temperature has been in the low 70s before warming back up during the day. It has been very pleasant and I am looking forward to it cooling down further.

While the temperature has been a little colder, I did say it was a noticeable difference. In my morning classes the students have been a bit more bundled, wearing long sleeves and light jackets. They have also been trying to discreetly close the windows when I am not keeping a watchful eye.

Janet asked a class recently to talk about the winter in Zhanjiang. They explained that it gets very cold, despite the fact that the recorded low for all of last year was 51 degrees Fahrenheit. Perhaps we should start stockpiling food and firewood to brace for the upcoming winter?