Shelter from the Storm

It's been a busy week since we last updated. After having found a place to live (the one with the owner's photo above the bed), we all sat down to go over the contract. That's when things got complicated... It mostly came down to 2 things: 1) the landlord was completely inflexible. He demanded $1200 as a deposit (3 months rent), and wanted the rest of the year's rent paid in a lump sum within 10 days, or he'd claim the deposit as his own, and send us back onto the street. He insisted that the deposit was reasonable since his furniture is so nice, and that his terms were reasonable because he didn't want any hassle and was just protecting himself...; 2) For us to get our money from Baylor, the initial requirement was for us to get a copy of the lease, forward it to Baylor's lawyers for review (translate into English, review it, make amendments, back-translate into Chinese, and then present to the landlord again). This would take several days after which funds could be released (to be added to our next paycheck), then the process of wiring the money to China would take even more time. Well, that wasn't going to work... So, we ended up getting the lawyers to take one of the local lease contracts, amend it, leave some blanks to fill in, and give it back to us as a sort of pre-approved contract. Our local Chinese counterparts loaned us some money so we could make the big up -front year's payment within a reasonable amount of time, and Baylor has made things flexible enough to forward us the money now, and revise the amount after we send them the final lease ! So, we signed our lease 2 days ago (Megan got hers done 3 days ago), moved most of our stuff in, and today we leave the Uchoice hotel and move into our new place!! The best part of the contract process was getting my thumb red (not the same as getting your palms read). We didn't go with our first-choice apartment because the landlord seemed like he'd be too much of a problem. We were afraid he'd find a tiny scratch on the furniture and keep our whole deposit. The landlord for the new place also let us sign an 11-month lease, saving a few hundred dollars, and required a much smaller deposit. So, here's our living room: Not our style of furnishings, but it's comfy, has two decent-sized bedrooms (guests always welcome), and a little office. Yesterday we sat around the living room for a few hours while unpacking and such. It was nice to have some personal space in a country where the sea of humanity is always threatening to engulf you. We need to buy a fridge and a number of other essentials, but that shouldn't be too much hassle--they deliver and install everything when you buy here. Labor is cheap. Oh, did I mention there are two bathrooms. One with one of these (!!): The other has a squat toilet for anyone who needs to exercise their pelvic girdle. Just be careful of losing change from your pockets into the nether reaches of Chinese plumbing. The building also has a nice little park where we've seen other families playing, and it's perfectly located, right on the major bus routes, close to both modern and traditional markets and restaurants, a few minutes walk from Green Lake Park, and from Megan's apartment, and about 20 minutes by bike (we hear...) to our work places. So, our next update will be from the new apartment once we get connected, which may be a few days... Don't fret if you don't see us online, we're just moving.