WTF MATE, Who Slapped You With CHINA?!

China. When in doubt, it's China. Though that can easily be a motto for anyone during the time spent in this land, sometimes one still needs to raise a brow to the insanity that ensues in the country. You wonder, is it alright for the Olympics to be in this country in a year? I'm sure China is preparing and its locals are smiling greedily with yen symbols lit up in their eyes, but are we ready to enter into this world of disorganized crazy?For those who have been wondering what I have been up to when I write out those oh so brief emails due to sheer tiredness, I have been job searching. I counted the number of days I actually have been interviewing while in China, and it actually was less than 2 weeks even though it did feel that tragically long. I started my online job search on Tuesday May 22, then 13 interviews (3-4 callbacks after first interview), and 1 meeting in the span of Friday May 25 to Friday June 1. Finally amidst all that muck, I have 4 jobs: a full time writing/editing position at PRC China Study, private tutoring to a Japanese businessman basic English every Saturday morning, a 8 day summer camp teaching Chinese kids English in mid-July, and my not so well paid servitude job at CCTF leading a bunch of volunteers in revamping the entire organization. Mind you, this was all within a 2 week time span since I have landed.

Besides job searching, I have gone a day as a pseudo-lawyer, trying to fix all the issues with our apartment before signing the contract. FYI, make sure everything in the apartment works and don’t settle for less because one does not deserve less than what they have paid. Our kitchen light didn’t work. Our BATHROOM light switch was broken. The windows did not open in the living room, the hallway light did not work. And the landlord was an f*ing arse. For those who know me, I don't generally call people names, but he was that bad. Sooo freaking BLATANTLY rude. It’s like, uh hullo, you’re not exactly speaking below your breath, and we may be Americans, but we can hear just the same. If it weren't for roommate’s visa renewal that depended upon a foreign residency card, I would've kicked the guy several inches below the belt, given him the finger, and walked off with my stuff. The only way I made his life miserable was to elongate the entire contract signing process until it was under pretty much our terms. Even after signing it, he tried to take our money in any other ways possible by saying we were duped and really not paying the water bill (since someone comes to the door to read the meter monthly and that's when we pay, and he claimed he paid it at the bank) and asked for the receipts to prove we “paid” for it. Anyways, it was a good lesson to be learned overall and one should always have a handy Chinese friend to call for help as that's what friends are for, but man, seriously that landlord was the worst of the worst. Greed can devour all.

Yet wait, my apartment story is not finished yet. Oh yes, the grossness. So I was sitting on the toilet this morning in our dirty bathroom thinking about how it was a shithole and should get a cleaning lady to come since they only cost about $1/hr but you provide them the supplies. But of course, us being broke and roommate Kari ever so content with a dark bathroom back in the day before I came along(can't believe people showered in that place in the dark for a few months) we have come to conclude we did not want to spend money for the cleaning supplies. And lo and behold, I glanced over at the washing machine while still on the chair (yes the bathroom consists of a shower, sink, toilet, and washing machine all in one area) and next to it is where we place this raggy mop that came with the apt. I squint my eyes a bit as I was in disbelief, but I freaking saw a mushroom (YES, a MUSHROOM, FUNGUS) growing quite tall and lean on Mr. Mop. I was just like OMG. That's how dirty our bathroom is. Last week while I was in the shower, I tried mopping the floor a bit since it's pretty linty and gross at times and it was just so ugghh...It will take some time before I look at my favorite veggie with the same shroom love again now that I see one growing on that disgusting mop. I'm thinking how poisonous it must be ughhhhh.. The cost of living in that apartment: 6 years off my life. For everything else, there’s Mastercard. Haha yeah right, people here like it in cash, not credit.

So just as I was about to also assume I fixed most of my problems minus the fact I have not received my new credit card yet (as my travel agency charged my plane ticket twice and Citibank did not take it off in time for my billing cycle so they cancelled the old one and issued a new one for me- yet now today I got it and it turns out they have NOT REMOVED the extra charge from my other billing), I get smacked with another problem: I am homeless for fall semester as my fall roommate wants to stay in her summer housing since it’s cheaper, and didn’t tell me soon enough that I could have stayed with my old room with my old roommate since she offered to keep the place for me!! I'm sure humans are quite flaky but when I tend to give someone my word, and claim I'd do something, I generally tend to do it (Ie. Me going to Japan, going to Belgium, backpacking Europe and going to the countries I've wanted, etc.). Her only condolence to me was her Japanese friend who was in search of a roommate herself. But honestly, for the price to pay to live in the same room with someone, I could've had my own room and paid $100 less. Can I just mildly scream frustration??

Anyways, after talking to some people about grad school and how to pay for it, and with the comfort of Pat's suggestions, at least what I got out of it all was that I am probably going to stay in DC for some more time rather than just finishing up the semester, packing up, and going to some random place. I mean, I already know I'm going to apply for GWU for grad school, might as well stay in the area and get settled for once, as Pat calls it. Which for those who know me, and are the only ones glancing at this, I've only noticed I've been on the move for the past 2 years nonstop. I haven't stayed in any place for more than 3 ½ months before I pack up and go again. Though chucking away crap will always be a tad more difficult once you're settled eh?