China Update

Let me begin by saying how nice it is to be back. Something has been missing this past month or so. I have not been taking many pictures because, who would I share them with? I have not been writing because, who would read it? My sister Jennifer has lovingly volunteered to be my blogger liason. I write and send her pictures, she will load them on the site. Thank you so much sis. I don’t know if Blogger will ever rise again and I was unable to find another site to post to that didn’t have content I didn’t want other people stumbling upon. If anyone has other ideas such as blogging sites that I could start a new one on that isn’t blocked here, please send all your suggestions thru the message board on blogger. Ok, here is part of what you have missed, I will try to sum up: We started school and are now up four lessons, we both got work and have both lost work. We teach at a University 3 hrs a week and I have two weekend jobs, for a grand total of 7 hours a week for me. We are still looking for more hours so we can sustain ourselves here. Our house has not sold yet, the tenants are supposed to be evicted soon. We are waiting patiently and hopefully for things to work out. That part is quite stressful but then we are not the only ones with difficulties, right? No one said things would be easy. Anyway, We have moved, that was a feat in itself. Our lease was up October 15^th. We had to start looking at new places as soon as we got back amidst starting school and looking for work. We had just as much trouble this time as the last plus, rent has gone up all over the city. Our place went up too, even the maintenance fee. There is no maintenance. The elevator worked sometimes and we had to pay extra to store our bikes. Construction and traffic noise kept us up at night and the dust from both made it impossible to keep the place clean. We finally found one apartment in our range after 2 weeks of searching. It was big enough in a nice complex. There was water damage on the floor in several places and the kitchen sink and cabinet had completely collapsed. The windows overlooked the local tobacco factory. We were told the landlord would fix the sink but not the floor. Their solution? No worries, put some rugs down. Sure. We waited a few days for the repairs to be made but they never called. Then I started calling every day and after a week, it was still not repaired and we were just about out of time. We went back and demanded our deposit back. They did not want to lose our money so the showed us 4 apartments that day (after having trouble finding even one a day to look at) and the last one was IT. The same complex with gardens, and two balconies that overlook them. Only by looking far to the left can I see the tobacco plant. This place is almost like a house. It has two levels, the living room is two steps down from the rest of the apartment. There are two bathrooms, one asian and one western. Our first western toilet in China!!! And there’s more! We have a tub! It is made for a short person but still, Frank can sit and soak as long as he wants just like at home. My kitchen is open to the dining room and there is even a pantry. I didn’t know those existed here. I have no storage shelves right now but the fridge is in there and the rice cooker and toaster oven sit on the floor. Still, a pantry!! I finally feel at home here. I like coming home, I have slept through the night since we moved. Some nights, there is no sound at all and we wonder what’s wrong. Usually, the only noise is from barking dogs and playing children. You can forget you are in a city and that we are on the 12^th floor of an apartment building. I can’t believe we ended up with this place. I am so glad the landlord never fixed that sink! We found some curtain material at a fabric market that was torn down just like the second hand market. Moving was easy too. Some friends came over to take our long couch down the ten flights so we wouldn’t have to pay a fortune for moving. Then when we got it all the new place, I realized I could take the couch completely apart and fit it all into the elevator instead of hauling it up 12 flights. Ooops, guess that would have been helpful a few hours before. The movers were actually disappointed they didn’t get to carry it up for the extra money. I had to insist that they put it in the elevator and show them how to take it apart. Oh! The apartment came with pets! A huge fish tank, about 70 gallons. The landlord said it came with the place and so we have to take care of it. It was black with algae and had 4 goldfish in it. A friend knew what to do and now it is crystal clear with 10 fish in it. Here are some pics:

Mandy