Musing on Moving

I am now the proud new tenant of 65m² of prime Harbin real estate. It's a 3-bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room flat, about 10-15 minutes walk from campus. The idea is that I sublet cheaply to two Chinese HIT students once term starts, which will allow me to have a near-constant exposure to Chinese.

In contrast to most of the other properties on the market, this is modern, clean and comfortable. The central heating was cranked up to a good 25C before I figured out how to turn it off, and the biggest problem is no fridge or washing machine, but I'll sort those out in the next couple of days. A fridge is not a big deal for me as eating out is so much more convenient and cheap - I think I cooked a grand total of twice the two years I was in Shanghai, only using the fridge for milk and fruit.

A washing machine is more problematic. I saw a couple of laundrettes in the street outside so calculated it wouldn't be a big problem, but on closer inspection, it'll be a hassle and relatively expensive to wash my clothes that way. Not a problem though, as I visited Carrefour - the French hypermarket - yesterday and found washing machines for as little as 248RMB (£17!) with a decent sized model going for 588RMB.

Another property I had a look at was a 1980's built 2-bedroom flat owned by a former teacher of 47 years at HIT. It had a prime location on campus about 2 minutes walk to the teaching buildings, but was pretty decrepit, with a dingy toilet/shower combo which didn't have enough room to swing a rat, of which I'm sure there were plenty. The asking price was 900RMB but they - the retired teacher and his daughter - jacked that up to 1000RMB when they figured out I was lazy and from England, the excuse being I would be on a short 6-month lease. I said I'd think about it, but in the meantime, I could meet up with the teacher's grandson - an 18 year-old freshman - to arrange language exchange or Chinese tuition. By the time I met with Paul that evening, I'd already put a deposit down on my new flat through an Estate Agent and begun to move my things! I told Paul I was looking at other places to spare his feelings and he dropped the asking price first to 900RMB then to 800RMB, and I'm sure he would have gone even lower.

Anyway, we arranged to have a language exchange every Sunday for about 2 or 3 hours, and decided to meet at one of the campus canteen's for our first meeting. Paul seemed dorky and highly strung in English, but relaxed hugely as soon as he reverted to Chinese. I'm not 100% sure he'll be any good as a teacher but he's sincere enough.