Imagine this being broadcast to the citizens of Atlanta:
Due to water pipes being replaced and relocated, there will be no water throughout the entire city from 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. on Thursday, May 20.
There would be a sizable backlash. It would make the news. Michael Moore would probably roll into town and do a documentary. Maybe Al Gore, too.
But here in Harbin, it's accepted as part of life. Millions of people don't stop what they're doing; they just move forward with a handicap while acknowledging that the city smells worse than usual.
For this, I am grateful: Grateful that water was restored sometime during the night, grateful that the fine weather distracted us, grateful for the experiences in which I am deprived of things that keep me sensitive to my own culture's indulgences and to the rest of the world's reality.
