Feel the burn.....

I went apartment hunting on saturday feb 2nd.  i met up with this new 
guy, Standy, and his buddy, Andy, at 10 am, and we proceeded to tour 
Shenzhen.  We walked at a brisk pace all over Futian, Luohu, and were in 
fact all of 20 feet away from the Hong Kong border.  I figure all 
totaled, we saw somewhere around 20 apartment, and walked 10 - 15 miles, 
and took somewhere around 20 different trains, and climbed more 
staircases than i could have believed.  i found my place though!  it 
took me a bit to realize but when i had originally contacted him, he 
asked me what my "lucky numbers" were.  it was about the 18th place that 
we visited before i realized that every single apartment we went to, the 
floor had either a 7 or a 3 in it (my two lucky numbers), kinda 
surprised me.

i found my apartment!!!  it's a fairly spacious place (fairly - you'd 
want to really love your family before moving 2 or 3 of them in with 
you!!) at 85 sq meters (you do the conversion.....actually, you send me 
the conversion, i can't figure it out right now, and looking it up 
sounds like so much more work than just talking about it).  the deposit 
and fees are what kill you, you need 2 months security deposit, 1 months 
rent, and another month's rent to pay in fees to the real estate agent 
(which is a thankless job if i've ever seen one.  we finally finished at 
9:30 pm, and did not take any breaks....at all.)  there's also a fee for 
internet (you pay for the year), utilities, and you have to set up for 
registering with the local police agent, making sure that your agent 
explains what you need from the owner.  the contract process is crazy, 
and essentially the 3 pages say, "Pay your rent by the 5th of the month, 
or you get thrown out!"  the apartment is furnished.  but....(there's 
always a but in china), the bed is possibly the hardest bed i've ever 
seen. there's no such thing as a box spring here (even though they are 
made here), i think the mattress is stuffed completely with rice or a 
rice like substance (there's no space inside to allow for a little 
flexibility), so you need to go out and find some foamies and one or 2 
mattress pads.  replacing the matress is a waste of time, these ones are 
new anyway, but they're all the same.

going apartment hunting you see so many crappy, meth head like hangouts, 
that you start to wonder if you're too american, and perhaps your 
standards are too high.  the truth is, though, that you just have to pay 
more than you'd expect....it's more expensive than scottsdale for a lot 
less.  my furniture is all ikea, (there's an ikea here somewhere, i'm 
going to go in search sometime soon), and things can be a bit strange.  
my shower goes into a wooden or wicker tub...(some japanese thing, i 
don't know), which i actually kinda like...i'm not sure i'd take a bath 
in it, but it will make less of a mess.  i have the smallest dishwasher 
that i've ever seen (i thought it was one of those toaster oven things), 
and the buttons all have chinese characters, i look forward to 
experimenting with it.  i do have a washer, but i didn't see a drier 
anywhere.  i know they exist, i just don't have space for it.  balconies 
in china were all meant to hang clothes, regardless.  i don't have the 
first clue as to how to use my washer, i'm going to experiment with that 
as well.  i have a 27" LCD tv, that will probably need replacement soon, 
(it's cracked, if it spreads, it's done), and the most awesome purple 
sectional in the world.  the apartment is located in the famous 
(infamous) futian district of coco park.  coco park has the most awesome 
restaurants that i've seen thus far.  all western style dining, and 
maybe one third of those sell western style food.  i'm craving random 
meat on a stick....i didn't see any, i may go in search tomorrow when i 
go in search of the superbowl, which starts at 7 am here.

the apartment is one of those crazy end units (they don't have things 
like that that i've really seen, unless you count penthouses, i 
think.....so it faces north and south.  i do have air conditioning, no 
heater.  i can just open up windows on both sides of the apartment 
though, and get a natural flow.  i'm facing the hong kong side and i 
think i can see the mountains (i'm not sure if i can see them through 
the smog....they're far away, but it depends on the day....something 
like 5 or 6 miles away....do NOT compare us to Beijing, they can't see 
across the street....so, our air is Clean (ish)!!!)  i don't think it 
actually gets cold here, and if you get cold in my apartment, i 
recommend finding a blanket.  i didn't see a heater in any of the 
apartments that i saw today, i'm going to firmly believe that they 
aren't needed, regardless of what reality may hint at.

there is zero storage.  there are no closets, just wardrobes, or you can 
go find yourself an idea wardrobe (choices in the affordable area are 
ikea and walmart, and i'm not sure how to get walmart to deliver, so i'm 
going to find ikea....there's a train, a certain bus, and a random walk 
through an alley to get you there, i'm going to get directions, then 
coerce thomas into joining me, maybe he can convince them to delever to 
my address.)  i live on the 32nd floor, there's only 33 floors in my 
building.  so, i have a fantastic view, and no risk of pests, the bugs 
all live on the first 5 to 10 floors, i'm way above that, so they won't 
come to my place!  (again, theoretically...believe what you want to 
believe, then concentrate on that thought until it's reality....an odd 
truth to life in china...).

i went to mcdonalds for dinner.  i pointed to what i wanted, and i got 
it.  i thought it was a chicken sandwhich....who knows what it was, it 
was dark meat, i think it was pork.  it had mushrooms, lettuce, and an 
amazing amount of mayo on it, it was a bit messy.  i don't know why 
sandwhiches here make me feel retarded, but they always put so much 
sauce on whatever you eat in sandwhich form, that it kinda leaks all 
over you.  i don't know how to say no sauce, so, best to live with it.  
it came with easily the best curly fries that i've had in my life.  the 
drink.....that's the funny part, actually.  because i'm american, i 
consume more soda (chinese perspective), so, because i'm american and 
consume more soda, i must need the biggest glass of pop ever.  
but....and this is the good part, i don't pay the price difference.  i 
actually feel like on this one thing, the chinese aren't getting the 
best of me, so, i believe i will continue to go to mcdonalds.  plus, 
let's face it, curly fries are awesome!!!

i'm not sure if i'm moving in today or tomorrow, but, whatever day i 
move in, will be the day that i lose internet... until later this week.  
i'm tempted to wait to move in for the locks to be changed, and the 
money to be in hand, so that things don't go wrong (that is to say, 
missing....how many real estate agents in the city have a key?  i'm 
guessing lots!)

i need to take a long hot bath, i'm still dead tired and sore from 
yesterday.