So far, this week has been beyond hectic. From getting my Chinese phone number all figured out, to setting up a bank account all in my second language along with everything else in between, this experience has been quite draining. However, I was fortunate enough to miss out on much of the chaos house hunting brought on. This is because I was able to secure a relatively large two bedroom apartment before I left the United States; I was able to take over a friend's lease who was living here during the spring and summer!
However, there were many who were not as lucky as me; their house hunting experiences seemed to range from stressful to soul-crushing. For example, although I had heard that finding housing would be stressful, I never realized that landlords could turn down students due to the fact that they were foreigners. Fortunately, very few students who faced this outright discrimination, but for those who did, it was understandably extremely tiresome and an terrible way to start off the year.
For those who are interested in the house hunting process, here are some tips!
-Find a really nice landlord!
This is VERY important because there are landlords out there who will cheat you and will not pay for repairs on your house!
-If you are planning on being in Nanjing for the winter, get a place with heating!
Although Nanjing doesn't get terribly cold, there is no central heating system, meaning that many stores and buildings (including the classrooms) have a weak and/or no heating system. Thus, it's pretty nice to have a good heating system when you come home.
-All of the houses in Gulou (the district where the old Nanjing University campus is located) are VERY old and pretty decrepit, so don't hold out for a really nice apartment. Also, they're expensive to boot (awful awful), and there's no way to get around that (I paid $4000 RMB a month for a two bedroom, or about $606 USD) .
Feel free to comment with any more suggestions or questions below!
Despite having a stressful week, there were some enjoyable moments. Exploring Nanjing, trying new food, and meeting new people is always fun. In addition, although the health check up in itself wasn't the most exhilarating activity, getting the results back from the health check up was strangely enjoyable. I, along with many other students, were able to see our blood types for the very first time, and were eager to compare our results.
I do apologize, I do not have many terribly exciting experiences to share at the moment, I will share more about my adventures around Nanjing in my next blog post!
I enjoyed your post and look forward to reading more about your roommate hunt. I was thinking it might be useful for others if you expanded on the situation with your luggage and dealing with Delta Airlines.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with Delta Airlines was completely awful; not only did it take them about four days to send my luggage to the Nanjing airport, especially considering they assured me that my luggage would arrive in China the day after I did, they also refused to send me my luggage since I was in neither Beijing nor Shanghai. This meant I had to travel an hour and a half one way to get to the airport from my place of residence. Also, since Delta does not operate in Nanjing, my luggage was given to Eastern China Airlines to take care of. First off, I had to communicate all of my problems in Mandarin, and those who answered my calls were not patient with me at all. I was very confused as to where I was supposed to pick up my missing luggage, and after calling them multiple times (most of the time the representatives did not pick up the phone) I realized that they wanted me to go the opposite way through security to pick up my baggage. After an hour of wandering around the airport trying to find my luggage, I finally was able to meet up with some hostesses from Eastern China Airlines. I asked for compensation, and not only did they tell me to file a complaint with Delta, they started to talk down to me saying "file a complaint with Delta airlines, you know, the one on your plane ticket". After that, I stormed out of the airport and made the hour and a half ride home. So, for those who are reading this, if you can be picky while traveling abroad, do not travel with Eastern China Air or Delta.
DeleteAlso, I did not include the disappointing experience I had with Eastern China Air when flying from Shanghai to Nanjing. After boarding the flight, the hostesses informed us that the flight would be delayed, but gave no indication as to how long it would be until our flight could take off. For the majority of the four hours I spent waiting on the plane to take off (the flight from Shanghai to Nanjing was only supposed to be an hour long flight or so), there was no air conditioning, and the hostesses were incredibly oblivious and did practically nothing to inform us of the wait time or make the passengers more comfortable.
DeleteIs the town you are staying in big? Is there a town in Oregon of similar size?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the rent cost for your 2 bedroom?
The population size of the city I'm staying in (Nanjing) is larger than New York City, believe it or not! According to some Chinese sites, the population of Nanjing exceeds 8.23 million. As for square kilometers, Nanjing is 55 km2, where as New York City is 784 km2.
DeleteCurrently, I'm renting a pretty spacious two bedroom apartment very close to three different universities, so I'm guessing that my housing costs are much higher than average. I currently pay 4000 rmb a month (I have to pay rent for both my roommate and I as mandated by my study abroad program), which is about 600 usd a month.
That is an interesting requirement. Are expected to provide all associated cost as well? ie: power etc. Do they require you to provide food for your roommate?
ReplyDeleteKind of unique situation.
Well, I have to pay electricity/water etc., but my roommate pays for her own food. However, I do get paid every month if I complete the required amount of tutoring hours (which can range between 15-20 hours each month)
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