Adventures in China: A busy morning

I turned to wash my hands in the sink when suddenly I saw a giant gray fur ball leap from behind the toilet and through the hole under the bathtub (don’t ask me why there’s a hole there- China seems to have an affinity for random, inexplicable holes in walls).

I let out a shriek and ran out, slamming the door behind me.

No, no, no. I can’t have rats. Not in my apartment.

For the next hour, I sat on the couch, far away from the bathroom, debating what to do. I briefly considered surrendering my bathroom to the vermin, but then a second later I realized I had to pee. It would also be nice to brush my teeth and brush my hair before class! Plus at some point I would need to shower again. So that wasn’t an option.

As horrified and disgusted as I was to see the bugger, it did solve a mystery that had been bothering me for some time. There was one day a few weeks ago when I returned from class to find that the toilet paper in my bathroom trashcan had sunk down, as if someone had pushed it down. I was struck by that because I’d distinctly remembered noticing it was getting pretty full only a few hours earlier when I’d left that morning. I was baffled, but it quickly left my mind, until two days ago something happened that was harder to ignore. I was at my apartment Sunday morning, and a few hours after using the bathroom I went in again, only to find that the entire bag from the trashcan was gone, and the can was knocked over! It really freaked me out to know that something was in my apartment. I definitely hadn’t taken it out and forgotten because I’d hadn’t yet left my apartment, so if I’d tied up the bag it would still be inside. After I saw Stupid McRat-Face, I knew he’d taken the paper for his nest and mostly had been snacking on used toilet paper. Ick.

So I had to do something but I didn’t want to do it alone. I would get Kerry or Kayla to help me! I didn’t want to use poison or traps because then I’d have to deal with the smell and the dead body. Ughh. No thanks. Plus, I don’t think I could kill something like a rat. Cockroaches and spiders, yes. But a rat isn’t so far from a hamster or even a cat. So I’d have to cover up the hole. Cardboard and tape! That should work.

After about an hour, I really had to pee, so I suited up by putting on sneakers (no fool is going to bite my toes!) and armed myself with a broom. I prepared a cardboard square, packing tape, and scissors. I realized from having seen the rat leap so quickly into the hole that it was probably just as scared of me as I was of it. So before entering, I turned on the light and banged on the door to announce my presence. I opened the door slowly, peering left and right before coming in and closing it behind me. I peered behind the toilet and under the plastic shelving to make sure he was actually in his sub-tub home. The tape screeched as I made a border around the cardboard, then before I could chicken out I quickly slapped the square over the porcelain hole and flattened down the tape. The hardest part was over! I reinforced it all around with more and more tape, and shook the broom in the air in victory!

To be honest, I’m still a little nervous that little mister fuzz will appear out of some other hole or drain, but I’m proud that I dealt with the problem on my own.

It turns out a full bladder is a very strong motivating force.