Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

The apartment

This past week I finished my finals (feeling: good), and bid farewell to a few of my departing classmates (feeling: sad).

I also had to pack my things and move into a new apartment. Now that I'm finally here and settled, I have to say this feels like I landed a nice deal: a ten-minute bike ride from my classes, an own room to myself, and pretty cheap. A definite upgrade from living in the school dorms. It also has some pleasant views.

I decided to move off campus so that I could better immerse myself with Beijing's local culture. Below my apartment is a supermarket 齐天府超市, along with some barbershops.

I also have a new roommate named Max, who happens to be from Germany. I've only met him once; recently he returned back to his home country to see family.  Apparently, he may be gone often because he works for Hainan Airlines.

The apartment is a bit worn and feels old. The doors to elevator are a faded green and they grudgingly pry themselves open when a passenger needs to enter. Sometimes I'm not sure which elevator button I should press  since a few of the coverings have fallen off; today I figured out which one closes the elevator doors.

There's also a small table in the corner of the elevator with a phone placed on top of it. A sign located on the wall says: "If the elevator stalls don't panic."

My apartment, located on the tenth floor, also has an old man sitting on the steps leading to it. Next to him is a pile of collected trash, which he sorts. Once done, the old man bundles them up and heads down stairs.

With this past semester done and now in a new apartment, it feels like a new chapter is beginning for me (although New Year's has long passed, the Chinese one is just around the corner.

I do feel lucky to have found this place, especially after having to deal with apartment hunting in Beijing. That itself was an experience I hope I don't have to go through again anytime soon.

Normally you would say "no" when you've found an apartment that has no bathroom. (Instead you had to go walk out and use the public facilities. That or go to the local McDonalds.)

You'd also say "no" if you found out it took an hour to get from your apartment to your school. (Traffic in Beijing sucks).

And you would also want to avoid dealing with an apartment agent, since they just add more to the cost. (Some of the shadier agents have also been known to cheat unsuspecting people for their money my Chinese friend warned.)

But this is Beijing, where cheap apartments aren't easy to find. Working with my budget, suddenly the no bathroom apartment didn't look too bad.

Thankfully, I caught notice of an ad at The Beijinger, an English-language magazine which has a forum geared toward foreigners. No need for an agent.

Apartment hunting in Beijing has also made me realize living in the school dorms wasn't bad at all. To get to class, it only took a 3-minute bike ride. My classmates all lived nearby. The cafeteria food was cheap and sometimes good. Even the housing staff cleaned my room every other day.

Still, it had its rules and restrictions, a few I thought absurd. Hot showers in the morning were only allowed from 7 to 9 am. Who willingly gets up that early, I do not know.

Visitations from friends living outside the dorm were also barred after 11 pm. Why this was put in place, I can guess, since the school probably doesn't want any late night partying. Still, I was recently offended when I was forced out of another neighboring dorm due to the curfew. In response, I secretly snuck back in with the help of six of my classmates who devised an elaborate plan to distract the housing staff. Heheheh...

Now I'm off to live in a new place and excited. It has two bedrooms, a kitchen, living rooms, and of course bathroom. But in no way can it compare to how housing is like in America. A classmate of mine, who is returning to the States, brought up an interesting point. In Beijing, nearly everyone lives in an apartment, and some are faced with rather cramped spaces. But when my classmate returns to America, he'll visit his parents' suburban home. Though their house might be typical for America, compared to the average urban homes in China, it's a near mansion.

I guess one advantage of living in Beijing, is that I'm only paying $161 a month for rent here. Perhaps I'll never live in a place cheaper.