Cockroaches, rats and China.

I remember my first day in China, when I was welcomed by 2 cockroaches in the hotel room I was staying over. (Btw, it is exactly one year since I'm in China, and exactly one month away from my trip back home.) Or the time when I spent the whole night under my door, because of a rat in the apartment. Or the time when I first moved out to the new apartment, and after setting couple of mice traps, I woke up to 6 agonized mice. Or when I was reaching to turn on the light, and there was a small lizard next to the switcher....and the list continues.After a year, dealing with these 'exotics' became so mundane. When I see a cockroach, it's not the matter of choice to run or scream and run, because it's not the simple cockroach- it's the one that can fly. It's 3 times more frightening. However, something usual for my daily routine,I call out to the other room"Ewa, there's a cockroach." Ewa:"Do you want me to kill it, or you...?!" Me:"It's ok. I got it." To my lovely Bulgarian girls, I never thought I would excel in cockroach combat:)))One morning, me and Ewa found a mouse sleeping in the corner of our cupboard. Someone forgot to close the cupboard over night(not pointing fingers:)) We had the mouse there for 3 days. We tried to domesticate it, but unfortunately it didn't cooperate and after 3 days without eating the food and water we tried to give it, it just was so tired and out of air, that we could easily trap it in a box and leave the box somewhere outside. It was a sad day.My first months in China, it was something crazy to see rats running around the street in the evening. Even crazier to see them in the apartment. They are like unpaid workers of the city, that after a busy day, dispose of the leftovers. Now, when me and Lena took a walk after a fun night in GZ, seeing rats hustling by the side of the road or in the trash is just like seeing a suspicious person that you just need to stay away from. I just hope, that I don't get to eat rat meat in the Chinese restaurants:)So overall, assessing the year, in the department of dealing with 'animals' I definitely learnt more than I intended or ever wanted in my life:)