RECAP 10/16: A Place For My Stuff & A Pile Of Rocks

The next morning, Jane picked me up at the hotel. I checked out, and we started the drive to Kunshan. As we exited the city and entered the Jiangsu countryside, she commented on the relative advantages and disadvantages of Shanghai and Kunshan. Shanghai is expensive, exciting, and culturally not much different from any other major world city. Kunshan is cheaper, more relaxed, and has a more distinctive local culture. Also, pointy roofs. Jane has a foot in both of these cities, neither of which she is a native of. Two days a week she spends at her house in Shanghai with her family, and five days a week she spends in Kunshan, working at the school and living in her apartment. When I was at the branch in Shanghai, Coco had told me that Jane was a very successful woman, being both the principal of the Kunshan branch and one of the CEOs of the Shanghai company that owns and administers the chain of schools in the region. That she picked me up at the airport and has driven me around so much makes me feel somewhat more important than I actually am.

As we pulled into Kunshan, Jane futilely attempted to orient me in my new town of residence. Apparently, there are some roads that are important, and I should remember their names and relative locations. I managed to remember that they have to do with rivers, and they are made of concrete. Also, buildings on either side and cars driving on them. Right before we rounded the corner onto 白塘路, the street on which the school is located [NOTE: I am totally cheating by using geographical information I have since acquired], we passed a temple. Through the gates, we saw people dancing, firecrackers going off, and a cloth dragon flying around the courtyard. Jane commented that I was lucky, as she had never seen such a gathering at the temple before.

We parked in front of the school and went inside. There, I was introduced to the teachers and staff members who I will be working with, and I was shown around the building. Then we hopped back in the car, along with Jennifer--Jane's secretary. A couple blocks down the street (unfortunately for vehicularly deprived, blocks here are long), we stopped at my shiny new apartment. I found the interior of the apartment clean, attractive, and well furnished. I have a washing machine, an air conditioner, a TV, a big bed (with a very hard mattress), a shower, a refrigerator, and a range. Jane and Jennifer attempted to explain the details of rent, on which I am still not entirely clear (rather, I am still skeptical that the situation is as awesome as it sounds). The rent is about 1800RMB, if I understood correctly, which they think is expensive, but which I think is spectacular, since my housing stipend is 2000RMB. Utilities will probably be a few hundred RMB, which I'm fine with. Anyways, I'm happy with situation as I understand it, and, regardless of my opinion or the course of future events, I'm here for at least 3 months, since that's when my employers get the equivalent of the security deposit back.

Before I had much of a chance to look around, Jane insisted that we go buy stuff for my apartment. In retrospect, it would have made shopping easier if I had insisted that I actually be able to catalogue the existing furnishings in my apartment. A short drive and another failed orienteering lesson later, we arrived at RT-Mart, which appears to be the Chinese equivalent of Walmart. There, we bought bedding, shower stuff, cooking things, and cleaning supplies... I think. It was a bit of a whirlwind tour of the store, since Jane was running around like a maniac. Never have I ever seen someone get so excited about low prices. She was like a kid in a candy store: Jane would pick something up, hand it to me to look at, and then see a cheaper version on a different shelf, sprint off to get it, and forcibly swap it with the item in my hand. I guess I should be grateful, since this shopping spree is going to come out of my first paycheck. After we checked out, we took the receipts over to this strange machine, where you entered your receipt number and smacked a button and won a prize, the value of which varied, presumably at random. Jane won a 5RMB coupon or something. The women suggested that perhaps I was luckier and should try on the second receipt. I got the same coupon. Getting something for "free" based on your "luck"--This struck me as being a genius marketing tool, specially attuned to the Chinese psyche.

Back at my apartment, we met up with 王磊(= Wang2 Lei3), a friendly guy who is somehow associated with the apartment company. I was quickly impressed by what an awesome guy he was. Not only did he get some of the (new but not yet functional) appliances in my apartment working, he also wants me to be his 外国朋友(= wai4guo2 peng2you = foreign friend), and he definitely has the friendliness and patience necessary for that to happen. Oh, and the character for his given name is totally awesome. It's like a pile of rocks (石 = shi2 = rock). After that, I don't remember what happened. I guess it was really boring. Anyhows, here are some pictures I took recently of my aparment. Enjoy!:

The view from my balcony window.
The buildings seen here are basically identical to mine.

Another View

My incredibly clean room.

My couch in the living room. I think it's missing cushions.

The TV in my living room. It gets one English-language channel:
CCTV News, which makes Fox looks fair and balanced.

Kitchen. 'Nuf said.

A view out my living room window, overlooking the street
that goes from my apartment to the school.

-Peter