Pretty much since the day we came back from Thailand, we have had beautiful weather where we live. That is pretty typical of "The Spring City." However, this week, something went awry. On Sunday, we enjoyed temps in the 70s up to 80 degrees. Then on Monday things cooled off a little, down into the 60s, but on Tuesday morning, I woke up to go for a bike ride, and rain was falling. This wouldn't have been too big of a deal, except the temperature dropped into the 40s! 80 to 40 in 2 days. An odd return to winter, I have been assured only for a few days. Shelley and I went on a date Tuesday night, and found ourselves driving back in snow, no joke. Ever since, it has remained freezing cold. This is a list of odd strange things that are happening where we live right now. I was informed of 2 others via text messages from friends:
1. Received on Tuesday, roughly translated: "On March 19th (Friday), the moon will be the closest to the earth that it has been in 20 years. This may create some tragedies, as the past 10 years of observation and research have made obvious, the likes of which we have already experienced: The Indian Ocean [earthquake] and Wenchuan [earthquake], The Haitian earthquake. Whether or not you agree, lets hope that everyone sufficiently prepares! This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, you don't want to sleep too soundly, protect your awareness, this isn't foolish scary talk, because our province's and Japan's earthquake, the Eastern Pacific coast's tidal wave, millions of fish have died, and all of this was right in front of us! Please tell everyone around you, your family and loved ones. I wish you peace!"
2. This one was received from my teacher, as I was sitting in front of her in class. I asked her if she meant to send this to me, and she said "yes. Read it." She couldn't have just told me?: "The Japanese government has told everyone about the serious nuclear situation. Every Asian country should pay attention and follow these instructions. One day, rain or shine, stay inside your room, close your doors and windows for the first 24 hours. There is a serious danger of pollution in the air. Small children and young girls are especially prone to injury, the most at risk organ is the thyroid and sexual organs, it is best to take iodine tablets to protect your thyroid (especially at coastal regions). Wear a dusk mask today starting at 4 o'clock if you live in coastal areas, even though our province is very far from the coast [the equivalent of west texas' distance from the Eastern seaboard] even we can be affected! Do not eat too much seafood. Please send this to everyone around you. From the thyroid external medicine research center of our province."
These are the kinds of text messages that go out every time there is a natural disaster anywhere in the world. People literally freak out over here! Who knows what will be coming to my inbox over the next couple of weeks. The Wenchuan earthquake was just before the Olympics in 2008, and people were telling me that every month experienced a natural disaster, and since the Olympics were in August of 2008 (08/08) that the disaster would be even worse then (even though the reason they chose 08/08 is because 8 is a lucky number here, the opening ceremony was actually on 8/8/08). And when the movie 2012 came out... holy smokes they should have never allowed a screening here. Either way, I hope that we don't all get radiation poisoning from nuclear fallout or that the moon doesn't cause anymore earthquakes.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
New Apartment
One of the downsides to living out in the country like we do is the lack of... well anything really. Shelley and I love our apartment, but it is so far from the campuses where we study that it has made life very inconvenient. Every morning, we are running out the door to walk the 7 minute walk to the parking garage for our electric scooter to get on said electric scooter and scoot the 5 miles from our house to campus. Purchasing a car I thought would make it easier, until the first time I filled the car up with gas, which was an unexpected shock (I figured out that I am paying around 4 dollars a gallon). That means that Shelley scoots to class while I ride my bike on most days. Now 5 miles on American roads doesn't sound bad at all. In fact, people advertise in real estate magazines "within 5 miles of..." but on East Asian roads, 5 miles is an eternity of dodging pot holes, unfinished sections of roads that were dug up the previous night, eeking through stoplights that overweighted dump trucks don't stop for (and can't stop for because they need a breaking distance the length of a runway at the speeds they drive and the loads they carry), trying to avoid the stupid street washing/turn dirt into mud trucks' spray, and trying to keep from getting impaled by the sharpened 9 foot bamboo broomstick of a street sweeper. All that to say, ever since we moved here, we wished we were closer to the campuses. The only problem was, there wasn't anything closer to the campuses than our apartment complex. We have been licking our chops at all the high rise complexes that were being built out by the campuses, waiting for them to get finished so we could move out closer and not live such divided lives.
Well, the opportunity has finally come, and we are some of the first to take advantage of it. The apartments for teachers are starting to open up, and because many of the teachers still live in the city where their spouses work and their children study, they don't want to move out to where we live. Especially when the schools run free express transportation for them to and from the campuses every day. So many of the teachers are renting out their newly purchased apartment, and on Saturday, we signed a contract with some of these renters. Negotiating this contract was an interesting process. When Shelley and I wanted to talk without them understanding, we spoke English to each other, which neither of them speak very well. When they wanted to talk in secret, they spoke the local dialect here, which neither of us understand very well. Afterwards, Shelley still only speaks English to me. I don't think she has really directly spoken to them once. They find it so strange that my wife understands standard East Asian language, but still can't speak a lick of it. Our new landlords (starting in May) are actually bankers, but the husband taught at the University of Science and Technology like 15 years ago, so he somehow got the right to purchase one of these apartments. When I met them, he told me "we bought this apartment for our daughter, but we won't be using it for at least 8 years. She wants to teach at these universities some day." I said "Oh, is she in college now?" to which he replied "oh no, she's just finished middle school." I can't imagine the pressure this poor girl is under. Per this culture, they bought her the apartmet so they can move in with her as soon as they retire. She better end up at a teacher's university, and she better graduate from said university and teach, and she better end up teaching at these particular schools!
Buying property in East Asia is very different than in America. For one, this country has so many people that growing out is not an option, you have to grow up. Almost all of the people here live in apartments. An apartment complex here is not owned by a real estate investor or landlord, it is owned... well, we aren't sure who actually owns them. But what we do know is that each apartment is sold individually. This is pretty much the only option with the exception of the exceptionally rich, mostly government officials who have some of the few houses that are built in this country. When you purchase one of these apartments, you purchase it unfinished, a concrete shell. It would be the same as buying a house pre-drywall in America. It is then the individual owner's job to finish the apartment. Since these apartments just opened, the apartment we are going to be renting is an unfinished apartment, and over the next couple of months, our landlord is going to be finishing it so we can live in it when the contract begins in late May. Here are some pictures of our new apartment!
This is the entry way. No floors, no walls. Just concrete and electrical outlets.
Here is the kitchen. It has a rear balcony that we are having our landlord enclose that serves as a laundry porch, also where our microwave, hot water heater, and fridge are going because of the tiny size of the kitchen. The yellow pipe is the gas line, and the white pipe coming out of the ground is the floor drain for the sink.
We particularly love this feature, which until now seemed nonexistent in East Asian apartments- a closet!
This is our building. We will live on the 14th floor of this highrise.
The walkway out behind our apartment.
Our back balcony looks over a little pond with a gazebo.
This is the main entrance. Right across the street in the picture is the school where we study.
Most of the tile for walls comes with decorative tiles, only they have things like poems written on them. Imagine the above being your bathroom wall or kitchen backsplash.
And for your balcony, who doesn't love a not-so-natural looking stone finish. Those are seriously pictures of rocks that have somehow been burnt onto ceramic tiles.
Kitchen from the 70s anyone?
This one I titled, "In case you didn't know which room you were in."
Well, the opportunity has finally come, and we are some of the first to take advantage of it. The apartments for teachers are starting to open up, and because many of the teachers still live in the city where their spouses work and their children study, they don't want to move out to where we live. Especially when the schools run free express transportation for them to and from the campuses every day. So many of the teachers are renting out their newly purchased apartment, and on Saturday, we signed a contract with some of these renters. Negotiating this contract was an interesting process. When Shelley and I wanted to talk without them understanding, we spoke English to each other, which neither of them speak very well. When they wanted to talk in secret, they spoke the local dialect here, which neither of us understand very well. Afterwards, Shelley still only speaks English to me. I don't think she has really directly spoken to them once. They find it so strange that my wife understands standard East Asian language, but still can't speak a lick of it. Our new landlords (starting in May) are actually bankers, but the husband taught at the University of Science and Technology like 15 years ago, so he somehow got the right to purchase one of these apartments. When I met them, he told me "we bought this apartment for our daughter, but we won't be using it for at least 8 years. She wants to teach at these universities some day." I said "Oh, is she in college now?" to which he replied "oh no, she's just finished middle school." I can't imagine the pressure this poor girl is under. Per this culture, they bought her the apartmet so they can move in with her as soon as they retire. She better end up at a teacher's university, and she better graduate from said university and teach, and she better end up teaching at these particular schools!
Buying property in East Asia is very different than in America. For one, this country has so many people that growing out is not an option, you have to grow up. Almost all of the people here live in apartments. An apartment complex here is not owned by a real estate investor or landlord, it is owned... well, we aren't sure who actually owns them. But what we do know is that each apartment is sold individually. This is pretty much the only option with the exception of the exceptionally rich, mostly government officials who have some of the few houses that are built in this country. When you purchase one of these apartments, you purchase it unfinished, a concrete shell. It would be the same as buying a house pre-drywall in America. It is then the individual owner's job to finish the apartment. Since these apartments just opened, the apartment we are going to be renting is an unfinished apartment, and over the next couple of months, our landlord is going to be finishing it so we can live in it when the contract begins in late May. Here are some pictures of our new apartment!
This is the entry way. No floors, no walls. Just concrete and electrical outlets.
Here is the kitchen. It has a rear balcony that we are having our landlord enclose that serves as a laundry porch, also where our microwave, hot water heater, and fridge are going because of the tiny size of the kitchen. The yellow pipe is the gas line, and the white pipe coming out of the ground is the floor drain for the sink.
We particularly love this feature, which until now seemed nonexistent in East Asian apartments- a closet!We think we are really going to enjoy the complex overall. The landscaping looks beautiful, and it is right across the street from the school where we study.
This is our building. We will live on the 14th floor of this highrise.
The walkway out behind our apartment.
Our back balcony looks over a little pond with a gazebo.
This is the main entrance. Right across the street in the picture is the school where we study.So we have 2 months to finish this apartment, paint, and move all our furniture before we head home to America for the summer. That means we needed to get to work with our landlord on picking out the stuff we like for the apartment. So on Sunday, we met our landlord at a giant home finishing market to start picking out stuff. I thought we were just picking out tile for the kitchen and bathrooms. We did start there. The choices were terrible. Here are some examples:
Most of the tile for walls comes with decorative tiles, only they have things like poems written on them. Imagine the above being your bathroom wall or kitchen backsplash.
And for your balcony, who doesn't love a not-so-natural looking stone finish. Those are seriously pictures of rocks that have somehow been burnt onto ceramic tiles.
Kitchen from the 70s anyone?
This one I titled, "In case you didn't know which room you were in."Afterwards, we ended up picking out doors, and then unexpectedly looking at fake harwood for the rest of the house (Pergo for those of you who know flooring). We chose the planks in the color we liked, and then our landlord's wife was convinced by a different salesperson that her pergo planks were better. As she decided to buy them, she told me "I just like nice things" to which I replied, "if you want nice things, you should buy hardwoods. Pergo is pergo. This is the same as the other stuff." She told me, "no, this is better for your health. She says that the planks fit together tighter so less dust comes up from the ground. I have to think about health. Afterall, one day we are going to live in this apartment too." She was duped by this salesperson to the tune of a 20% price increase. It was interesting to me that Shelley, who has never had any allergy, was choked up everytime she walked into this particular pergo shop. She had to wait outside. The landlord's wife asked me "Where is Shelley?" I took the opportunity to say "she is outside, I think this place's hardwoods are affecting her health." Thinking maybe I had talked her out of getting ripped off, she simply replied "they probably installed the low quality ones on the floors here. This is why we need to get the high quality fake hardwoods." Seeing I lost this battle, I said "probably just the incense burning by the store's buddha." (Many stores have a Buddha statue that they burn incense to for luck) I guess Shelley and I will be healthier from our high-quality fake hardwoods, and their future professor of a daughter will have happy retired parents. Overall, we spent 7 hours actually signing a contract on Saturday (who knew it was this involved), and a total of 13 hours over the weekend with these interesting landlords.
We will keep you updated with plenty of pictures as the apartment comes along. We can't wait to move in May!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
did i mention romantic?
because if in the gushing about my great husband i forgot to, shame on me. because even though we went out saturday night on an anniversary date since we had stuff monday night, jarred got my friend lindsey to make up fake lunch plans with me so he could whisk me away from campus for a picnic lunch date at this nice little park on a river near us. loved. it. i am one. grateful. wife.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
2 years
2 years ago today we got married!
i knew i loved jarred then but being married to him and living life every day with him makes me love and respect him even more. he is my husband and best friend, defender, protector, caregiver and hero. he is intelligent, wise, hilariously funny, insightful, caring, silly and fun. he sees the worst of my sin and depravity and loves me in the face of all of it. he leads me and loves me better than i could ever have imagined. and i am grateful, very grateful, that i get to be his wife. today we are celebrating 2 years of marriage and lord willing many more ahead. happy anniversary to us :)
i knew i loved jarred then but being married to him and living life every day with him makes me love and respect him even more. he is my husband and best friend, defender, protector, caregiver and hero. he is intelligent, wise, hilariously funny, insightful, caring, silly and fun. he sees the worst of my sin and depravity and loves me in the face of all of it. he leads me and loves me better than i could ever have imagined. and i am grateful, very grateful, that i get to be his wife. today we are celebrating 2 years of marriage and lord willing many more ahead. happy anniversary to us :)
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