Wow, I didn’t realize how stale this blog had become. Just noticed as I wrote back to Mari (safe in Seattle).
Well, I actually have news to report today. I rented an apartment. It’s a two bedroom, fully furnished, with appliances for 900 yuan/month (about 115 USD). I think it will be very comfortable. And with a spare room we will soon be ready for guests!
There are so many crazy things about renting an apartment here that I don’t know where to begin. I guess the most painful bit is that they require 6 month’s rent upfront, along with one month’s deposit. Yikes! This is strange even for China, but that’s Kunming. And then there’s the management fee because we have 24-hour gate guard. And then there’s the unofficial “thank you fee” to the guards that introduced me to the couple renting the apartment. I barely had enough, but I made it. Everything’s always negotiable, and with the incredible help of my friend Wumin, we negotiated a lot! Rent: aking price 1000, 900 agreed price. “Thank you fee:” asking 900, paid 300. Not bad.
I’ve been watching a lot of t.v. lately, because my roommate has a ton of stuff on DVD. I’m watching the “L” Word right now, already in season 2. My god. It’s a good way to numb my brain. I’ve been pretty anxious about getting things ready for Jeremy’s arrival (Tuesday!), so it’s nice to just let an hour or two just pass by.
Off to chat with my sister.
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5 comments ↓
i hv been keeping track of this blog for quite a lot of weeks, vivid description of all happenings to a foreign friend’s life in KUNMING is really fascination.
with YIKES, YAYS, WOWS…around, my mind is nosing a inch ahead at what will come out there next, well done, Elizabeth…. im one of the fans. ;)
Hi Elizabeth,
I just stumbled upon your blog. Glad to see you are enjoying life in Kunming. I’ve been keeping a pretty active blog from the city as well, though the last 6 weeks I’ve been on the road. Check it out sometime: http://www.expreference.com.
Ryan
after reading what happen with you in kunming,i found it is formidable that you live in kunming as student abroad lonely.how can you rent a flat from local people without local language?i consider you rock!!!
Hi,
You’re “Kunming at Wikipedia” link does not work in China. Use this one instead:
http://www.answers.com/Kunming?gwp=11&ver=2.0.0.453&method=3
It will take you to the Wikipedia article on Kunming.
Eric Langager
College of Software
Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
I have a phone number of a friend of mine who is a native of China and there. If you like I could give you here # and you could chat with her. She is very nice, knowledgable, and available to talk. Let me know.
big bro in Cali
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