Home Sweet Beijing Home
For the past month I've been on pins and needles waiting for my roommate Allison to arrive in Beijing. Though living in the dorm wasn't bad per se, it was certainly lacking something as a living space...like color, decorations, internet, storage space, refrigerator, laundry facilities, kitchen, water cooler, and most importantly, sound. After living in the Grove I'm not accustomed to a house without people, and the daily silence was beginning to freak me out.
As soon as Allison arrived in Beijing (4:00 PM), I moved her bags into my dorm room and instead of resting, we went apartment shopping. Chinese apartment shopping is quite a process. Basically, you go to any realtor and ask for apartments in a specific location. Within ten minutes you're already on your way to scope out the choices. Beginning with the cheapest apartment first, you walk to the location and peek inside. After discussing basic things like, "can we get rid of the red and gold temple carpet" and the fact that we need beds in both bedrooms (yes, we had to ask), the realtor asks if you want it. No, not if you like it, if you want it....right then. No looking around, no walking around the neighborhood, no meeting neighbors, just a decision. In their crazy minds, if you like an apartment and it will work, why look at others? Especially others that are more expensive?
We bucked the system, asked to see the 36$ more expensive apartment, and loved it. Our only hesitation was the small size of the refrigerator (a complaint that was countered by our realtor with "no, this is good, you can lose some weight.")
Hoping that you will make a quick decision and stop bothering them, realtors often tell this kind of story: "You're actually the fourth person to look at this apartment today. One guy is coming back in the morning at nine to decide, so if you want it, you need to decide before he does." Now, there's no way to tell when this is a story or when they're really telling the truth. Scared of losing the apartment that we really liked, we took a breath and forked over the cash. By 10:00 PM that night, we were no longer homeless.
With the efficiency of apartment hunting, you would think that we would have been settled soon after. This, however, is a different story. Number one priority was turning on the fridge and stocking diet coke (done), but we're still working on gas, electricity, phone, wireless internet, police registration, foreigner tax payment, a couch, sheets, a rug, wall decorations, candles, a water cooler, a water delivery service, a toaster oven, a desk, a desk chair, etc. My head is buzzing with papers, receipts, cards, and red stamps. It's a pain now, but will worth it when we're done.
As soon as Allison arrived in Beijing (4:00 PM), I moved her bags into my dorm room and instead of resting, we went apartment shopping. Chinese apartment shopping is quite a process. Basically, you go to any realtor and ask for apartments in a specific location. Within ten minutes you're already on your way to scope out the choices. Beginning with the cheapest apartment first, you walk to the location and peek inside. After discussing basic things like, "can we get rid of the red and gold temple carpet" and the fact that we need beds in both bedrooms (yes, we had to ask), the realtor asks if you want it. No, not if you like it, if you want it....right then. No looking around, no walking around the neighborhood, no meeting neighbors, just a decision. In their crazy minds, if you like an apartment and it will work, why look at others? Especially others that are more expensive?
We bucked the system, asked to see the 36$ more expensive apartment, and loved it. Our only hesitation was the small size of the refrigerator (a complaint that was countered by our realtor with "no, this is good, you can lose some weight.")
Hoping that you will make a quick decision and stop bothering them, realtors often tell this kind of story: "You're actually the fourth person to look at this apartment today. One guy is coming back in the morning at nine to decide, so if you want it, you need to decide before he does." Now, there's no way to tell when this is a story or when they're really telling the truth. Scared of losing the apartment that we really liked, we took a breath and forked over the cash. By 10:00 PM that night, we were no longer homeless.
With the efficiency of apartment hunting, you would think that we would have been settled soon after. This, however, is a different story. Number one priority was turning on the fridge and stocking diet coke (done), but we're still working on gas, electricity, phone, wireless internet, police registration, foreigner tax payment, a couch, sheets, a rug, wall decorations, candles, a water cooler, a water delivery service, a toaster oven, a desk, a desk chair, etc. My head is buzzing with papers, receipts, cards, and red stamps. It's a pain now, but will worth it when we're done.
posted by CC at
11:32 AM
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