Today was the day that I’d find an apartment and, soon, I’d be able to stop living out of my suitcases in hotel rooms. I’d be able to start living my life in China, and just just traveling. But first, I had to meet the agent that would be showing me, and my new coworker, apartments.
Eventually, he WeChatted and we were set to meet up in the afternoon. Now what to do with the rest of my morning, as it was only around 10? There was a park nearby that I had been hoping to explore.
A little pond and waterfall 
Random building 
Weird stone building..? 
Palm trees in China?
It was a very nice park with a couple ponds and a little creek, lots of small areas for people to do outdoor exercises. I saw some people practicing martial arts. And there was a ‘Shenzhen Poetry Institute’ in the park as well. It had a massive bonsai and some walkways around a corner of the large pond.
Who knew a bonsai could be so big? 
Walkway 
Poem?
After a quick lunch, it was time to meet up with the apartment tour guide. He meet us at the hotel and took us on the metro to the first building to look at.
My first housing option was not what I was expecting. To get in, we went through a restaurant, probably to pick up the keys, and up a tiny, rickety elevator. We looked at several apartments on a couple different floors. They were all very similar – barely larger than the bed and in need of a good cleaning. Most of the tenants were using the hallway to store shoes and some other items. The rooms were fairly cheap, but I decided to see the next place.
The second building was nicer, but a lot of the units were under construction. One even had a toilet in the middle of the entranceway, another was missing most of the flooring. I did get to see one apartment that I could move into now, however, I could open the window and touch the neighbor’s suitcase, in the window of the apartment building next door. The current tenant had curtains up that almost completely blocked out the outside world, aka the other apartment. It wasn’t bad, but also not what I had really been hoping for. I wanted some real sunlight. On to option 3.
The third building was the nicest one yet, mostly because it is brand new. It was also the most expensive. But the rooms are nice, with all the furniture from IKEA (or a lookalike) I could want, and big, well, for being a tiny studio, with no room for a couch. I’d even have a balcony. Yes, the kitchen and bathroom are the balcony, but it exists. It was also the most expensive at just over 4,000 yuan ($620USD) a month. It would also be the cheapest apartment I’ve ever had. And there is a mini pond out front with some koi and a turtle.
As we were leaving, and I was thinking about getting it, they informed me that there was only one of the smaller, and cheaper (by about 100 yuan), apartments left. And someone else was about to go look at it, possibly rent it! I had to decide right then if this was going to be the apartment for me. It was more than I wanted to pay, and more than my housing stipend from work, but I liked it and it next door to the metro and a few stops form work.
I decided to take the apartment. And signed the paperwork. I paid a couple thousand as a deposit in cash, but I would have to come up with 2 months rent for a deposit and another months rent for the rent, minus what I put down now. As the building doesn’t like taking cash (they had to get special permission from the owner to even take my deposit), and I didn’t have WeChat Pay or Alipay just yet (bank accounts were scheduled for 4 days from now), they gave me a little over a week to pay and I’d still be allowed to move in tomorrow.
Then we were off to find a place for my coworker to live. He was set to work at a different center in a different part of the city. The first building we look at has a couple apartments. There are a lot of shoes, luggage, and other things lining both sides of the hallway. The apartments are small, but mostly clean. There are a couple mystery stains on the mattress, but nothing a topper and a blanket can’t hide. He decided on a smaller one, pays the deposit, and gets keys. He can move in right away and gets a while to pay the rest of the rent and deposit, as well.
It was late now. I have to got back to the hotel and pack so that I can move in the next day.
But that story will have to wait for the next post…
My TEFL Adventure 