Apartment at last, irony ensues
So, I have been hunting for a place close to work. The dorms here are 900 a month, and on transportation alone I am going through 800 a month, so, might as well. I found a place for 2000 a month that is pretty damned nice. I will have my own kitchen, bedroom, shower, washing machine, fridge, and other goodies that come with having my own place.
This could not have come at a better time too, as the staff here informed me that I have to move out ASAP. I paid till the 31st, but they want me out sooner… oh China, how I love you. My work with the olympic stuff has just started, which is pretty sweet, especially as I do not have to work every day. This gives me much needed time to move and get settled in. The move is this weekend, some of it today actually.
Of course, there is irony in this. I am moving to be closer to work, but the temp job is close to Beiwai, figures.
Anywho, upcoming battles for me:
ADSL: The apartment has 512K ADSL, it’s 120 a month, I want faster. The fastest public service that CNC has is 1M for 150 a month. The next highest is 2M service, but it is for business and they want over 1000 a month for it. No, that is not worth it, I can survive off of 100k/s downloads.
The Reverse Commute: I have to be at the Shangri-la at 8:30 for a few days in the next two weeks, it’s a 1 hour commute, this is going to suck. The taxi fare would be about 50 each way, and they are paying me 9000 total. I am going to have to make that commute a maximum of 3 times. I’ll probably just take the taxi, it’s a waste of money, but I might actually get there in time.
发票: I need to hunt for 9000kuai worth of these, the Olympic job is so Chinese it is not even funny, they want to be able to write off my wages as expenses and avoid tax. Cute. So very Chinese of them
So, there it is, a new life begins, away from dorms and schools for the first time in a long time (ever?) My first real place that is all mine, not shared with a roommate, not a homestay, not a dorm, just all mine. At last I have a real kitchen and bathroom, a place to call my own and accumulate crap in, without worrying about a roommate stealing it, or staff bursting in for whatever reason. Etienne will finally have some room to run and be evil as well. I’m on the 20th floor out of 22 in the building, so, with luck, I will be above the street noise and get some nice breezes… and if I don’t, I have 2 ACs to compensate, hah.