I'm back east...

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December 29th 2009

Published: December 29th 2009

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Tiffany Journeys East

Spacious Living Room 1

This is the view from the front door

Wow. I have been extremely lax in updating my blog. I will try to get it up to date as soon as possible. I returned to China on September 4th. The flight was pretty good (as good as a 17 hour flight can be). I managed to have my whole row to myself so I could stretch, lie down, spread out, and generally relax and even sleep a little. The night I arrived at Kim’s apartment I experienced an intense feeling of sadness that I was once again so far away from home. Being home for the summer was such a tease. Kim told me she felt something similar and assured me that once I got back into a routine that feeling would go away. Sure enough, I felt much better the next day. Even though I was exhausted and jet lagged I forced myself out of the house for the entire day. By the next day I was starting my new job. I didn’t want to sleep on Kim’s couch for any longer than I had to. Last year Kim had her apartment primarily to herself but this year she has two roommates and I didn’t want to be in

Spacious Living Room 2

This is the view from the balcony door

the way.

The people at work helped me find an apartment within the week and by September 11th I was moving in. Renting my first apartment in China was an interesting experience. It took six people and an entire day to complete the process. First I had to meet the landlord at the apartment along with three of my coworkers and two agents. My coworkers checked everything in the apartment while the agents went over a checklist. This took a couple of hours. Then there was some (what seemed to me) pointless waiting around. We walked down to the agents’ office. More waiting. Paperwork signing. More waiting. More paperwork signing. Then we all walked over to the bank (and waited some more) where my name was placed on two accounts. One account I deposit my rent into every month and the other account I deposit money into for all my utilities which are automatically withdrawn. The whole deal costs me about 3,000 RMB (about $440) per month. It’s pricey, but after living in a craptastic dorm room last year, I wanted a comfortable place to live in. My building is in a commercial area with many conveniences. Everything I

Expansive Kitchen

It's almost a kitchen

need is a stone’s throw away and my building even has a nice swimming pool. The best by far, though, is the fact that my apartment building is directly next door to where I work. It only takes me about three minutes to go to work, depending on how long the elevator takes.

My apartment is tiny, but it only feels small when I have people over. And it doesn’t take long to clean! I have a temperamental bathroom light and an upstairs neighbor that likes to throw cigarette butts onto my balcony, but for the most part I’m very pleased with where I live. It’s a nice change from last year when I lived in the seventh level of hell otherwise known as a primary school dormitory.

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