I'm sitting in a coffee shop across from our new apartment now, thinking about the day.
It's been a long one, but a very rewarding one.
I was woken up very early this morning, to the sound of my hotel roommate leaving to ShangHai for the weekend. I had the room to myself, and it felt good. Until I checked out 6 hours later.
It was time to move on to bigger and better. We went to our apartment, and I had a really nice taxi driver drive me and my stuff to our new apartment. We carried all of our luggage up 6 flights of stairs, reviewed the contract for the apartment and handed over rent for the semester. We paid all of our rent up front because it is an annoyance to our landlord to only rent the apartment out for 4 months. Don't worry though, we won't get ripped off, we took every precaution possible and have very set contracts with a third party making sure we're safe.
Our apartment is huge (as mentioned yesterday), and because my roommates didn't want to have to buy king size sheets, I ended up getting the master bedroom. It's bigger than my room back home, and I have a king size bed. What a great deal! I'm really excited about our apartment.
Right after we signed the contract we mentioned to the landlord that we were going to set up the internet for our apartment this afternoon and she was very nice. She helped us look at a few options, and called a friend who worked for the DSL company to help us with the setup. Then she drove us in her car the few blocks to the building and said we could call her if we needed any help. I really like our landlord, she seems very nice and helpful.
The people at the DSL company were not as accommodating though. We asked at the front desk how to set up a DSL connection in our home and she told us it would take a few weeks and the landlord would have to front the deal. We took a number to ask the people at the service desk if there were any other options and they told us that wasn't the case at all, and in very fast, mumbled, and technical Chinese spewed out every option we had for internet. All of them required that we not only buy a DSL modem, but that we sign a one year contract. We kept explaining that we would be willing to pay more per month if we were able to sign a 4 month contract only, but they wouldn't listen, and we decided that we needed to go and get something to eat and rest before we tried to wade through the monumental task of connecting internet at our apartment.
We walked up a nearby street and it felt funny. Familiar funny. Like Taiwan. And it was odd, I didn't realize how different the food in China is from Taiwan until I got here, but it is much different. The street that we walked up however we have dubbed 'Taiwan Street' because all of the restaurants had signs saying they sold Taiwan style food or drinks. We decided to check it out, and got some really good fried rice from a really nice lady. Then we walked up the street and got some really good milkshakes. All in all I spent 9 RMB (1.20 USD). It was delicious. On our way back to the DSL company we ran into a very well stocked import store. It was expensive, but they had Dr. Pepper. It's only 7 RMB (1 USD) for a can. I didn't get any, but now I know where to go when I need a taste of home.
The DSL company wasn't any help when we went back, and the service desk person spoke even worse Chinese than the one before. I was pretty tired from concentrating so hard all day, so I went home and decided to figure out the internet tomorrow.
I unpacked all my things, so I now officially live here, I'm not living out of a suitcase, this is my home.
I'm sure that tomorrow will be another day for learning and hopefully it keeps like this for the rest of the time that I'm here.
It's been a long one, but a very rewarding one.
I was woken up very early this morning, to the sound of my hotel roommate leaving to ShangHai for the weekend. I had the room to myself, and it felt good. Until I checked out 6 hours later.
It was time to move on to bigger and better. We went to our apartment, and I had a really nice taxi driver drive me and my stuff to our new apartment. We carried all of our luggage up 6 flights of stairs, reviewed the contract for the apartment and handed over rent for the semester. We paid all of our rent up front because it is an annoyance to our landlord to only rent the apartment out for 4 months. Don't worry though, we won't get ripped off, we took every precaution possible and have very set contracts with a third party making sure we're safe.
Our apartment is huge (as mentioned yesterday), and because my roommates didn't want to have to buy king size sheets, I ended up getting the master bedroom. It's bigger than my room back home, and I have a king size bed. What a great deal! I'm really excited about our apartment.
Right after we signed the contract we mentioned to the landlord that we were going to set up the internet for our apartment this afternoon and she was very nice. She helped us look at a few options, and called a friend who worked for the DSL company to help us with the setup. Then she drove us in her car the few blocks to the building and said we could call her if we needed any help. I really like our landlord, she seems very nice and helpful.
The people at the DSL company were not as accommodating though. We asked at the front desk how to set up a DSL connection in our home and she told us it would take a few weeks and the landlord would have to front the deal. We took a number to ask the people at the service desk if there were any other options and they told us that wasn't the case at all, and in very fast, mumbled, and technical Chinese spewed out every option we had for internet. All of them required that we not only buy a DSL modem, but that we sign a one year contract. We kept explaining that we would be willing to pay more per month if we were able to sign a 4 month contract only, but they wouldn't listen, and we decided that we needed to go and get something to eat and rest before we tried to wade through the monumental task of connecting internet at our apartment.
We walked up a nearby street and it felt funny. Familiar funny. Like Taiwan. And it was odd, I didn't realize how different the food in China is from Taiwan until I got here, but it is much different. The street that we walked up however we have dubbed 'Taiwan Street' because all of the restaurants had signs saying they sold Taiwan style food or drinks. We decided to check it out, and got some really good fried rice from a really nice lady. Then we walked up the street and got some really good milkshakes. All in all I spent 9 RMB (1.20 USD). It was delicious. On our way back to the DSL company we ran into a very well stocked import store. It was expensive, but they had Dr. Pepper. It's only 7 RMB (1 USD) for a can. I didn't get any, but now I know where to go when I need a taste of home.
The DSL company wasn't any help when we went back, and the service desk person spoke even worse Chinese than the one before. I was pretty tired from concentrating so hard all day, so I went home and decided to figure out the internet tomorrow.
I unpacked all my things, so I now officially live here, I'm not living out of a suitcase, this is my home.
I'm sure that tomorrow will be another day for learning and hopefully it keeps like this for the rest of the time that I'm here.
6:33 AM |
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