2009

Happy New Year everybody! I know it's a few days late, but things have been a little all over the place for me. I just left my homestay on Dec. 31st and am now at John and Debbies. I have the keys to my new apt I just haven't had time to move over there yet! I also don't have any bedding, but I'm hoping Debbie can lend me some of hers so I don't have to go out and spend a fortune. :) So the new place..how did I find it, what's it like? It worked out really nicely. It was the second place I saw. I found one place off craigslist which wasn't bad, but it had this one little window that faced a wall and barely any light came into the place. I just wasn't feeling it. Also the walls were painted funky colors, like teal and light purple. One of the people I tutor for this company I work for was leaving with her husband to the US. Actually they left sometime today. I'll miss them, they were so fun to hang out with! She was telling me how they were looking for people to rent their apartment too because they were leaving; obviously. They had only lived there a short amount of time, it was cheap and they wanted to save money before coming to the United States. Its not the most glamourous place, but the master bedroom has a huuuuuuuuge window and light comes streaming into the place. That was the selling point. All the stuff in the apt works, lights, water etc. So anyway, I was like, well how much do you pay to live here? The number was BELOW what I was going to spend on the other place, and this was a 2 bedroom! So it worked out great. They were leaving the apt, and I was looking for one. I trusted this couple and new if they were living there it was a go. Her best friend lived with them and I've met her a few times also. She speaks really good English and actually used to work as an English teacher. She'll be my new roomate! I think that is big plus. She knows the neighborhood, and speaks English and Chinese. Hopefully I can really learn a little Chinese now. Even if she just helps me with my prononciation. I've been pretty busy lately and haven't picked up any new stuff in a while. The location is in a great part of Shanghai. It's actually clean around where I am and there are a lot of name brand stores around and good restaurants to eat in. I even have a starbucks on the block. I have lots of pictures which will surely inspire some "oh man!" responses, but those will go up later. I'm having trouble getting photos on right now. I have off tomorrow which is GREAT and want to get over to the apt to set it up and get my stuff in order. To top it off, there is a really really nice gym directly across the street from my new apt. It's called THE SPARTAN GYM. The cost is 2,000 RMB for 6 months which is, are you ready...not even 200 us dollars. This gym is way nicer than the one I belonged to by the homestay. It has two workout rooms with brand new machines and weights. It also has a sauna and a heated pool. Both of which I checked out and are really nice. The pool is big too. Across the street from the gym is a little juice bar so I can get my healthy on. hahah...So, things are going pretty well so far! I'm tired now, but I'll try to get picks up as soon as I can. I have a bunch from new years as well as my trip to the post office and of course the new neighborhood and apartment. I'll have some more little stories to post, as soon as I'm at my new apartment and have my internet set up. peace