GOOD NEWS!

At last, I am so so happy to tell you all, I will be moving into an apartment. I get to say farewell to my moldy dorm life, and move on up to the second floor on the other side of campus!

I haven't really written much about my living situation lately, as it has been a frequent source of frustration that contributed to a varying levels of unhappiness. Being able to settle in, truly unpack and spread out (I've been relying on a stacking method to organize my paperwork and books due to lack of space), and cook my own food will improve my state of mind tremendously. My patience started to really wear thin when fall set in with a vengeance and the mold appeared. The whole place is permeated by it, and I feel I can't escape it. I can't even express how much this has impacted me--suffice to say that I am so happy to move on.

A nutshell version of the whole housing snafu: I was originally placed in the foreign teacher's dormitory due to a PC/LZMC oversight. The college didn't read the PC housing criteria, and the PC just rubberstamped the dorm idea without actually looking at it. After I tentatively asked if this really was where I was supposed to live for two years, the PC immediately realized their mistake and took measures to fix it. The mistake was delayed in correcting because of the time of year--essentially all the apartments on campus had already been leased by September. After lots of correspondence between myself, the PC and the staff here, a place was found that was marginally suitable. The foreign affairs people toured it with me, asking for my input on the repairs that needed to be made (the place was very old and very run down). Well, I bit back my urge to be ultra-flexible in favor of seeking a comfortable living space for two years and wrote them out a list. It was awful to be put in the position where I felt like I was demanding all of these things that I was entitled to by the agreement of the Chinese and US governments. I am very sensitive to a greedy American label.

In the end, however, I think my list proved to be too much for them. Last Friday when I spoke with my Waiban director she said she'd found a new place for me, "that will be better for you," and that didn't require a list of repairs. I toured it on Monday afternoon, and it is indeed better. This week they did some repainting and other things I imagine (it is kind of mysterious what exactly is going on for a whole week) but the point is I move on Friday. I will send photos of the place after I move in and get a bit settled. So, as my Chinese would emphatically tell me, all is well that ends well. They sure do love a good idiom...