中国改变得非常快：China is changing so fast...

At like a breakneck speed. Back in America I always heard people say this, in both Chinese and English, but it was sort of hard to get a grip on what it meant to me, as a young person, from a small US town.

But now that I am here, I know exactly what it means. It means 24hr/day construction. It means leaving for a year and not knowing what your town might look like when you come back. It means new structures going up so quickly you kind of wonder if they are structurally sound. It means ditches in the road, ambiguous traffic directions, and dangerous intersections. It means NOISE, all the TIME noise, the oh god did I just damage my ear drum a little bit kind of noise. An army of men in orange helmets out on the street running cement saws in flip-flops.

 Right down the street from my house, there is a big sports stadium where they will be holding the Youth Olympics next August, so in preparation they are putting in all manner of new underground stations and flower planters by the road.... SPORTS *shakes fist*

Sometimes at night I can here the high powered trenching machine at work. It makes my boyfriend's flat in San Francisco, conveniently located on 19th avenue (aka the freeway), seem like a sanctuary of peace and tranquility. It is very odd to see everything torn up like this. I am not sure if I just happened to get plopped right down in the middle of one tiny construction project, or if this is really related to the ubiquitous "China is changing" trend. I feel like it must be, on some sort of grand scale.                    

First day in Nanjing

I can't believe I just got here yesterday, so many things have already happened. I was jet lagged and woke up super early, got up and searched out some coffee on Guangzhou Lu and then Me and Barbie met up and headed to the Flagship office together, where we filled out some forms and were sent to go with realtors to go look at apartments. We split up and headed out with separate realtors on the back of motor bikes, at one point we were three to one bike! The sky was dark when we left, and then not a moment after we stepped inside at the first house did it start pouring rain. It poured for a few hours, but we dawned ponchos and looked at a few places. 

A few useful tips for looking at houses:

-rent is usually about 3000-3500. If you pay more, it will be bigger and nicer. Keep the in mind if you are a penny pincher going for under 2000. 

-ask if the have Internet equipment installed already. This is convenient, and you won't have to wait the two days for them to install it. Ask if the is an air conditioner and heater in the apartment. Ask if utilities are included in the rent price.

-see if you can get a deal for five months only. This will be better than 6 months most likely, and certainly better than a year. Your realtor will help you with the six months, but you'll have to fight for the five. 

-you can choose to use a realtor or not. The realtor will charge you a fee of at least 50% of one months rent, and up to 85%. Try not to pay the full month. They will find you a place quickly and take you around to look at the apartments which is pretty fun in itself.  

-don't split up with your classmate, and have someone who has already been the a few days To along to be your advocate. Sometimes the realtors can be pushy. 

Anyways, had a really fun time looking. Will tell you about my new place soon!