On Friday I visited 4 apartments with the students from SCI around the city. The apartments that I found online were all fairly nice (security at the gate, some outside area to walk around, nice rooms, balconies, etc) but everyone at SCI wanted me to stay close to the institute so that I can walk to work instead of take the metro for safety reasons. The first apartment I saw was actually probably one of the best: outdoor pool, gym, and big room with a GREAT view. However, it was the furthest away, so I hoped for a closer apartment. While waiting for an appointment, we walked to Xintiandi which is one of the neighborhoods in Shanghai. It was awesome! There was a really nice park and a ton of restaurants filled with a TON of ex-pats. Not that I always want to hang out with ex-pats, but it was nice to see one place where they hang out. AND there was even a Brazilian BBQ there. Delicious! We went to the Starbucks there and all the employees spoke fluent English (at least the ones I spoke to) which is nice because like I’ve said, I’m really not good at Mandarin.
I decided to live in the last apartment all of us saw because it was close and in a fairly safe building. However, I would have to find my replacement when I moved out of the apartment in order to get my security deposit back which kind of concerned me since the security deposit was a fairly large sum of money and I’d have a very short time to find someone else to live in my apartment. But it was the best option of the day and I felt bad for the students since they had been following me around all day. It was really hot and humid and we were all sweaty and gross, so I went back to the hotel to pack to get ready to move the next day. The security deposit thing was really bothering me, so I decided to go rogue and visit one more apartment that I had seen that was also very close by. The apartment is leased by an older Chinese couple and they rent out the 3 extra bedrooms. They had one bedroom available. The room wasn’t huge, but the deposit wasn’t as outlandish and I didn’t have to find my replacement. In addition, I might be able to learn better Mandarin while I’m here since the wife speaks almost no English. An English teacher from South Africa is also living in the apartment and he speaks Mandarin and English, so that’s really helpful too. So I told them that I’d be moving in the next day!
On Saturday I surprised the students with my new apartment and they were really impressed. They said that it would definitely be a better situation and the couple could help me with problems if I had any. After getting my luggage in the apartment the students went with me to the police station to register that I’m living in this apartment. Unfortunately, since I have the student visa, I had to bring some additional paperwork which I didn’t have with me at the time, so I have to go back another time when I have all the correct paperwork together. I went back to the apartment and unpacked and started making a list of the things I need. I am really lucky that the previous Fogarty scholar left me some items that she purchased while she was here, so I’m going to wait to make any big purchases until I collect that stuff from SCI. But now I’m all moved into the apartment, have bought some food, and am ready to start really living in Shanghai! (And I start work tomorrow!)
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