My apartment is so cool...and more

As in my last post, I moved into my new apartment on Friday. I spent Saturday and Sunday buying towels, dishes, cookware, etc.... I was having some difficulty finding a power supply for my wireless mouse, keyboard, and my wireless router. I spent Sunday afternoon scrupulously inspecting various vendor stations at the SanXian computer complex. Sanxiang is a three story computer extravaganza. There are some fifty or so vendors all crammed into tiny cubicles with a glass counter and some shelf space. Many of the vendors have the same equipment, but this can be an advantage as a savvy buyer can go back and forth between vendors negotiating prices until they hit their rock bottom price. For instance, I wanted a pair of computer speakers so I can play movies and watch DVDs on my (school issued Lenovo) computer: I haggled them down from 180 yuan to 150 yuan, for a subwoofer, and two stereo speakers. I brought a duffel bag with me to the dowtown shopping district, so I could stow away my purchases for all the walking I would do. SanJiang is a shopping district. It is about five blocks packed with stires: furniture, computers, cell phones, food, clothing, etc...(everything you can think of).

My apartnment is very comfortable. I have three separate rooms: a living area with a balcony (came furnished with a couch and two matching cushiony chairs, a desk, and a locking cabinet for books and valuables), a kitchen/dining room (with a gas stove, sink, ventilator, 3/4 size refrigerator, extendible dining table, dining chairs, a toaster oven), a bedroom (with a bed with wooden frame and under bed storage, sheets, three comforters and sheets and pillow [which the school bought for me], an armoir for clothing storage). The kitchen is divided into a cooking room and a dining room. The cooking room is kind of like a mini balcony and has a great view. I am on the fourth floor of a very old building made almosty entirely from concrete, but inside it is very comfortable. The entire flat is heated with water heated radiators (all chinese apartments use solar power to heat their radiator water). The radiators also double for me for drying my clothes after washing them. I have a nice little min washing machine. Lisa gave me the great idea of using it as a hamper, and then just turning it on once it gets full. I have been doing this and it works great. I am always wearing fresh and clean clothing. My balcony has a clothes line for those more difficult to dry items.

The only complaint I can think of is that the doors in my apartment are not very tall. In other words, if I wear shoes inside I hit my head on the door sill. If i just wear socks, I clear them by about an inch (whew). So I just take my shoes off at the door. It is kind of an incentive for doing so. This morning I was hasty and I put my shoes on too soon. I hit my head three times on the door sills. Yeah it was painful. I'll live.

Other than that I couldn't ask for more. My apartment came with all the things I need to live well. All my apliances are brand spanking new (I am the first user of them).I had to peel plastic off of all of them or unwrap them from boxes.

The computer they gave me is a Lenovo (Makers of IBM computers). It has a AMD Sempron processor, 80 GB hard drive, and 512 MB Ram, DVD ROM.

The floors in my apartment are finished concrete, and the doors are wooden. Above the doors there is a glass hatch for allowing heat to exchange from room to room. My balcony is L- shaped and made of concrete. It adjoins my living room.

I am like a giant here.

As of now I have 4 regularly scheduled classes, and then I have new classes every week. The new classes operate on a changing weekly schedule. Everyweek, Litianfe meets me in the teachers office (where I am now) and gives me a new schedule for the less formal classes. Those classes can be about any law or political topic I choose. This week I am going to talk about the election process (Electoral College, Delegates, etc... Bush/Gore).

Last night after a day of shopping for household items, I went to the market and shopped for groceries. I bought a roasted half chicken, some steamed bread, some lettuce, two spinach patties, three oranges, two tomatoes, and a spicy sweet pizza pastry.

I only spent about 1500 yuan shopping for my apartment. I still have 150 US dollars, and about 2500 yuan left. So I have really only spent about $450 total since getting here. Thats not bad for two weeks of eating, dining, taking busses, buying a cell phone and shopping for apartment supplies.

You can get good deals here on everything except fancy electronics, which are only slightly below US prices. However, they have just about any computer supply you could want in the three story computer extravaganza. They don't however have a mouse or keyboard available as nice as the ones I brought with me; it's fortunate I brought them.

Later today I am going to set up internet in my apartment. I will post a bunch of pictures when it is set up.

So, I am doing well, and...oh yeah I am going to pick up some tutoring sessions. Three primary school students are looking for a tutor. I will be paid 100 yuan an hour to tutor them privately. One hour work would be enough to eat for five days, or go to a fancy restaurant three times.

I have two bank accounts now. One for convenience (branch near my aprtment) for spending money, and one for saving and transfering money to the US: Bank of China downtown.

For the first time I was able to tell my Taxi driver where to take me. I sometimes take taxis when the busses are either full or not running (after 9pm). I told him Lu Dong Dao Xie (Ludong University).

Xie Xie
Bye Bye