"Have had full days at work and still doing stuff for the apartment, so I haven't
had much time to write.
When we left off, I had just described to you the all-day affair on Wednesday of
looking for an apartment from 10 am to 8pm, which culminated in my giving the
landlords a holding fee, reviewing the contract, and agreeing to meet on Saturday
to sign the contract and me pay the remainder of the upfront money.
I get to move in the NEXT DAY at 6pm. I can't tell you how eager I was to get
out of the hotel so I could begin to have some sense of normalcy, and have a
place that would be my retreat from the rest of the world. A HOME. And so I
could concentrate on work.
That next day--Thursday--I slept in very late b/c I was exhausted from the day before--probably till 11:30 am. Then I took a cab to
the area around my new apartment to familiarize myself with the area. My main
concern was how far the subway station was from my building. This would
determine the length of my daily commute and how good a fit the location was for
me. I was still skeptical of Jason, who told me that the station was 10-15
minutes away, but never actually showed it to us. If it was too far away, I was
considering backing out of the deal. I walked in every direction all afternoon,
but even using a map, could never find the subway station."
"I took a cab back to the hotel to pack so I'd be ready for Jason. I had warned him that I had 3
large boxes to move, so in addition to his own car, he'd brought along a buddy
to help carry the boxes. I was so concerned about the subway station and things
at work that I didn't plan at all for my first night in the apartment. Terre,
the American woman who Jason took around the same time as me (aka Miss American
Princess), decided to stay in her hotel another night. This is one time when
she may have been wiser.
Jason and his buddy drop off the boxes at my new place, congratulate me, and
leave me to my own devices. I am dead tired, so I go up to the loft where my
bed is and realize that the landlords have left me nothing but the furniture. I
had no bed sheets, no comforter, no pillow. Usually I'm pretty particular
about how I sleep, but I had no choice. So I stretched out across the mattress
and slept."
"The next morning I am grimy as all get-out and need to take a shower. It's at
that time that I realize have no towels. (I did have the soap and shampoo from
my hotel room). What to do? You improvise. I just had to think, 'What of my
belongings here can I dry myself with?' The only option I could come up with
was my dirty clothes. So after I took a shower, I dried myself with the dress
shirt I had worn the previous day and dried my hair with the shirt I had worn
the day before that. But I was in MY OWN HOME, and I was happy.
The following day--Friday, I had to go for a complete medical exam, which was
required to extend my visa. After that, I had to go to work. The HR person
from work (Lucia Loo) was accompanying three of us to the medical center for our
tests since the company was paying for it. But with less than a week in China,
she tells us to meet her at a subway station way the hell on the other side of
town. Think from Manhatten to Queens. Even so, it wouldn't have been bad
except that I never did find the subway stop that was supposed to be near my
house. So I resolved to take a cab, which thankfully are EVERYWHERE in Beijing."
"Now I know that I have to pay the remainder of the upfront money on Saturday,
and there's not enough in my China account to cover it. I have to also get
some money from my American account, and on both accounts everyone tells me the
only way to do it is to withdraw cash from the respective ATM's. But, just as
in the US, there is a limit on how much you can withdraw per transaction and per
day. So I have to begin getting the money out today in case I max out, and then
can get the rest out Saturday morning, before the settlement meeting with the
landlords. So I make 3 withdrawals before I have maxed out for the day.
They have also scared me to death about paying for the water and the electricity;
they say these have to be paid in advance and that I'm almost out of both. So 2
more things to do before I meet Lucia in Chinese Timbuktu at 10 am. I go to the
lobby of my apartment and discover that no one there speaks any English, but
they finally understand that I want to pay my water bill. They manage to
explain to me that it's paid up and that I will receive a bill at the end of the
month. Ok, one less thing to worry about. Now on to my Chinese bank to
charge my electric card. You see, not only do you have to pay your electricity
in advance (so I've been told), but you have to get that money put on your
electric card (like a phone card) and then take that electric card to the actual
breakers for your floor and insert it next to the one for your apartment in order
to add the electricity. Well, I added the money to the card with no problem. I planned to actually put the card in the breakers that night because there's
no time to do it now."
By this time it's almost 9:30 am. I didn't panic b/c I thought it would be a
simple matter of getting a cab and getting to the station in 30 minutes. The
first cab, I showed the instructions which Lucia had kindly provided in Chinese
for just such an occasion. The driver looks at it and starts saying something
vociferously in Chinese. I don't understand because it's written right there
for him: how hard could it be? Finally, I realize I'm not going anywhere with
this guy, so I get out and hail another cab. Same routine with this next guy, but at
least he smiles and is nicer. I am more persistent and finally he starts to
drive off. HOME FREE!
Well, he drives and drives and drives and pretty soon
it's after 10, when I'm supposed to be there already. And the subway station he
drops me off at is not the one I'm supposed to meet them at. So I have to
figure out how to get to the correct station, and finally arrive at the XiErQi
station at about 10:30, wondering whether they waited for me or moved on. THEY
WAITED! Turns out Terre had a similar experience and had arrived there just a
little before me. Went through all the medical exams very easily and
efficiently. Oh, did I mention I was doing all of this on an empty stomach
because were weren't allowed to eat or drink before the tests that morning? So
after the test I wolf down a meal, then have to work the rest of the day, till
about 8:30."
"At the end of the day, I take the subway back to the station I know is supposed
to be nearest my home (Liu Fang) and hope I will recognize where I am so that I
can find my way home. Well, I do recognize it and realize why I wasn't able to
find it on foot: there was absolutely nothing marking it as a subway station!
I had probably passed right by it before.
Well, I'm settled in now and have bought stuff for the house (including towels
and sheets) and have an internet connection. So all the pieces are in place and
I can concentrate on work. It seems to me the worst is now past."
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