| Profil von Charles查思默FotosBlogListen |  Extras  Hilfe |
|
查思默...nothing to gain here... 05 April FlickrI probably won't post anymore pictures here.
Met die nieuwe cam zijn de foto's aanzienlijk in size toegenome en voor een of andere reden is msn (als ook myspace, blogger en een boel andere blogsites) nog maar nauwelijks bereikbaar van hier uit. In plaats van dus ga ik naar flickr waar ik vanaf een van de dagen onbeperkt kan uploaden. Veel heb ik dankzij het prachtige weer de laatste maand nog niet te laten zien van het nieuwe semester, een paar indoormomenten misschien. Een ktv waar we tijdens ST. Patricksday zijn belandt en simultaan een verjaardag hebben gevierd of wat foto's van de housewarming want; we zijn verhuisd!
'Hier mogen geen buitenlanders wonen. De prijs van het apartement zal vanaf volgende maand 50% stijgen'. Dat stond op een briefje (in chinees wel natuurlijk) dat onze huisbaas op de voordeur had geplakt een maand geleden. Ik weet niet precies of de eerste regel een argument is voor de tweede. Onze chinese kamergenote zij al vanaf het begin dat hij een probleem heeft met buitenlanders en moest het eerste argument niet werken, telt ook de tweede regel als argument. 'Eruit' dus, want in net zoveel woorden dreigde hij eerder ook al met politie. Na een half jaar midst een rattenplaag te hebben vertoeft hadden we het ook wel gehad eigenlijk. Het lijkt wel erger dan het was, ratten, nog eens, zitten niet alleen overal maar je ziet ze ook overal (maar of dat laatste het verschil maakt weet ik natuurlijk niet).
Zoals gewoonlijk hadden we weer snel een nieuwe gevonden. Een half uur nadat we op zoek gingen stonden we al op het dakterras van ons huidige adres (7 verdiepingen, het dak). Ik weet uit ervaring (ja, dit is de vierde keer al dat ik verhuis) dat de agencies nooit laten zien waar je naar op zoek bent. Zo verlies je altijd veel tijd en geduld en misschien uiteindelijk veel geld aan een huurtarief waar je je uiteindelijk 'maar bij neerlegt' (vraag dat maar aan Jasper!! haha). Ik geef liever wat meer commissie (x2 ofzo) aan de agent die voor mij een goede deal vindt zodat het hele kantoor op 'prijzejacht' gaat voor mij.
Met dezelfde Amerikaan van vorig semster en een jongen uit Colorado leef ik nu in een mooi apartementje met vier slaapkamers, twee badkamers, twee huiskamers, een dakterras, satelite tv en sinds kort een bbq en internet dus.
We zijn erg tevreden, zelfs gelukkiger;
Als er iets is dat Amerikanen zeker wel kunnen dan is dat een stuk vlees grillen!
Ik bak frieten en bakken bier worden aan huis geleverd! :)
20 Dezember Lights offIt happened before that the electricity failed. It might have had something to do with them still working on the subway and the last few times we got a notice. This time nobody really knew what was going on. It's a bit annoying not to have heating or light on a random weekday when you don't expect it, aspecially when it's after 9 (dark) and mid December (cold). Also, something must have really gone wrong cuz it wasn't just a block or two, the whole city (10 milion people) went dark in a matter of seconds. Some officebuildings had reserves to switch some lightpanels on but Trustmart and Mc. Donalds had enough to keep everything running as normal. I wish I had my camera on me when it happened, it was really interesting. Stores and foodplaces filled the place up with candles. The streets were packed with people, people trying to figure out what happened. The traffic lights were down and so was traffic; the intersections were a mess and cars were driving on the sidewalks, no streetlights and without slowing down even a bit. By the time I got to the apartment for my cam, I thought it would be a good idea to check it out from the roof. Since I didn't know how much longer it would last, I went straight up there so I missed some really cool shots downstairs. 07 Dezember Some recent eventsThe idea of picking up on writing's been occurring yet not fruitfull. I can honestly say though, it's been not so much my lack of effort as a lack of inspriration. Don't I have anything to write? Sure I do. And instead of spamming emails (which I haven't), I'll first fill u in a bit about what's been going on this new semester.
When I came back in September it already wasn't the same Chengdu I arrived at last year. Small shops, bars, and restaurants built and opened in no more than a few weeks (and often closed just as soon). Whole blocks of old housings flattened for more highrise; Sangri La's, Babi's, Lippo towers, etc. Some of u'll remember the huge hole at Tianfu. By the time I got back from my one month break, they digged their way all the way up ren min nan lu. From the looks of it there'll be a metro stop right outside of Shamrock. Since it won't open untill 2008 (metro, not Shamrock) and assuming they won't delay it, I'll have to live another year amongst construction. I probably wont be around to use but also, I'd be lucky to finally see Chengdu's Tian Fu square before my visa expires. However, it doesn't bother me that much and I hardly ever leave this side of the city. From what I hear, I'm more lucky I don't study in Beijing (Olympics).
After Leo (Bazel, Switzerland) left, and I was starting to think he never would, I started hanging out more with his friend Dave (American, Texas). I thought about moving out before because a good friend of mine had her own roofterras. I found out, students with their own roofterras; have less to complain about, don't go out as much, throw their own roofparties, have lots of people over, people always bring beer along, always have a fridge filled with beers. It didn't take much for me and Dave to start looking for a roof and soon after Lucy (local chinese girl) joined aswell. Although Chinese are known for their skills in negotiating and us foreigners being such very easy targets, I somehow convinced my 90 year old landlady to cut me some slack (although she did bribe me into being a guest at her son's friend's wedding). I wouldn't have to pay the month rent if I left within the week. And so I did. No more than a week passed since me and Dave had an idea of moving out, now I was the first to move and the weekend that followed we were all settled in. Although we didn't find our own roofterras (ironically we live on the first floor), we did find a sweet deal; full rent is 1200 RMB/month, so merely 400/person. I admit, it's a bit of a rathole, but at least not a shithole.
To keep the events in chronology I'll get to the rats in a bit. Like you know me and some friends've been doing some things for Joy and her bar. As she started to get more desperate and her offers more generous (even ended up giving me free beers), I agreed on organising a few more parties (2 as it turned out). I think everybody who knows this bar won't be surprised to hear that the first party that semester was also the last one. Or at least was supposed to be; although it was a goodbyeparty, she re-opened a few days after to throw another goodbyeparty the weekend that followed after which she left for Shen Zhen. It was somewhat of a crappy place but charming in a way. It was one of those bars where you won't feel bad when you spill or drop a glass or break a chair, where you can make your own cocktails when Joy wasn't looking and drink on your tab (which is hard to find here in China). But like I said and you know, things change fast here and Joy's was no exception.
Anyways, we all bought some stuff from the bar and set up this nice chill corner in our living room. Besides meeting friends in bars, they now also meet us in the apartment, drink some beers and play some music or whatever. Although I'm still getting used to having roommates (my first), this place's really ours. I aspecially like the green around us. There's lots of grass, trees and flowers. It's an island of peace where you don't hear cars honking and crowds or discobeats from ktv's, where you can almost imagine breathing fresh air (unless u look up to the grey haze and see the bubble of polution you're in).
Of course all these trees and us living on the first floor bring along some domestic anoyances. It's been a while since we killed a cockroach in the house but while it's getting colder outside we started to get some nightly ratvisits. Ratstories are hip here (almost everyone can relate) but I hope ours ended when we caught the rat that soiled my toothbrush. Rats here are not so humanshy and so they're everywhere. Not only am I worried about hygiene but about a month ago some rats chewed of the head of my friend's cat. Why does that concern me? Well, we now also have a little dog in the house, Pablo. When I say little, I mean tiny, a little dog who looks like a cat sometimes. It was about a month and a half ago when me, Dave and Dagur (Iceland) were at Hempbar playing some pool. That night, apparently, was Lu Lu's 18th birthday. Some foreigner first gave her a puppy for a present (what a horrible idea) and then bought her drinks all night. Not only was she pissdrunk but so was the puppy. It got to a point were eventually Lu Lu forgot she has a puppy, so basically we took it from her. Well, Dagur did really, he more or less pulled her out of Lu Lu's hands and then gave it to me and Dave. Thinking it might also be a good idea to fix our ratploblem, we got her the shots and everything, got her all settled in. I don't know much about dogs but being about 6 to 7 months old would make her about mature almost (?). Yet, she doesn't seem to grow much, like some kind of bonzaidog (and I wouldn't be surprised) who can't even jump on to the couch. We did a good job raising her so far. She eats like a pig and likes chewing on our shoes, sigarettes, books and ears. She listens to her name and we got it how to sit, she's a bit slow with the pee and poo outside trick (her head is very small). But, and although most of the time she's being a little bitch, she's quite amusing. At least she's not one of those little ratdogs u always wonna accidentally step on. Than again, maybe some one else would dissagree and I do feel awkward sometimes taking her out.
t.b.c. some other time
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Private Nachricht senden
RSS-Feed abonnieren
Weiterempfehlen
Zu My MSN hinzufügen
Zu Ihrem Netzwerk hinzufügen
Für Benachrichtigungen registrieren
|
|
