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Ariadne
Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 960
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 Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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We used to see giant 'banana' spiders on Okinawa but I haven't seen any biggies here in China.. yet. I'm sorry I looked at the pic of 7969's visitor. The photo was creepy enough, I sure don't want to see that critter up close and personal and I'm pretty dang sure I'd forget to treat it with kindness and respect if we did meet up... however much it might deserve it.
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Denim-Maniac
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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| johntpartee wrote: |
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| Overall, it was OK, except for the following |
Denim-Maniac, what was OK about the place? Rats, mold, biting ants, shared accomodations. You're a better person than I (or at least more tolerant). |
It was spacious, convenient for work, free, and all the utilities were paid without anyone questioning the way we would run the AC in all 4 bed rooms to chill the entire house! Rats were pretty common everywhere in Hainan, they'd be scuttling around the nightfood places all the time. I think Im not tolerant generally, but I can adjust quite well to most things. The damp, rats and ants were just a regular part of life in that part of Hainan and I think you just have to accept it.
I went to Hainan after spending almost 6 months in Kenya, in a very rural setting. Hainan was a huge step up in comfort TBH.
The shared accom has never been a problem for me. Having recently left my last job Id say one of the things I really miss are my two roomies. Assuming you get decent people (and I always have), the people I have lived with have been an important part of my life and Id be very loath to live alone TBH. Ill be returning to my last job for a 3rd contract with them next year, and they will pay a housing allowance which will cover the average rent cost, but I actually prefer to live in shared school accomodation! |
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Ariadne
Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 960
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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Shared accommodation would be a deal breaker for me. I enjoy having other FTs around, but the same building is plenty close enough. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that the younger folks, fresh out of dorms and frat houses are the ones more willing to accept.. even welcome.. shared housing.
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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Watch the 'apartments' that are in fact hotel rooms with en suite bath and toilet.
Dalian U of Tech have/had these although they do pay an allowance if you want to live off campus. |
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Denim-Maniac
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238
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| Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:33 am Post subject: |
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| Ariadne wrote: |
Shared accommodation would be a deal breaker for me. I enjoy having other FTs around, but the same building is plenty close enough. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that the younger folks, fresh out of dorms and frat houses are the ones more willing to accept.. even welcome.. shared housing.
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Although my heart tells me Im young, my passport and the mirror always remind me Im 43.  Maybe Im an exception.
I generally take employment that offers relatively few hours, and Im always very aware of spending a lot of time alone. Whilst I do enjoy some down-time, I find my life to be far more enjoyable when I share it with someone (and that person doesnt always need to be a GF). The people I have shared with have all valued some privacy as much as I do, but I really like the odd 30 minutes when we all sit in our communal areas together and smoke, drink tea and brainstorm teaching plans, class issues and general chit-chat. Its been a really integral part of my China TEFL life TBH. |
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Ariadne
Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 960
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| Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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We're not so far off. Chatting, smoking, discussing lessons and students, having a drink or two with other FTs... that is also a part of the China experience that I treasure as well. Easy enough to visit back and forth in the same building, I just don't want to share a bath with them or fuss over whose turn it is to do the dishes.
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DosEquisX
Joined: 09 Dec 2010
Posts: 361
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| Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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Eh, I'd definitely ask for housing allowance as an alternate if housing was shared. That way, I could avoid uncomfortable pairings. If I am in the same city as the uni, meeting my roommate in advance would be cool.
To be honest, I spent a good lot of my time having beer drinking sessions with one of my colleagues across from me. Shared housing with him would have been no problem at all. It's just the anti-social types that would put a damper on the whole thing.
My biggest fear with on-campus housing is having strangers entering my apartment without my permission at any given time. Last thing I want is for people to mess around with my personal belongings. I can handle some privacy invasion (this is China after all), but I have certain limits. Curfews would be ridiculous as well given that I am old enough to handle myself and don't have to be penned in like the college students we'd teach. |
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mieze
Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Steinmann wrote: |
| mieze wrote: |
| 7969 wrote: |
| I Did catch one rather enormous spider in my bathroom one day a few years back. Bit of a surprise when I looked up and saw it. Promptly killed it and put it outside. You can see a photo of this monster here. With legs extended it was the size of a small dinner plate. Apparently their urine is a bit on the caustic side so you need to be careful if you see one nearby. Otherwise they're not too harmful. |
I can't imagine that my life would ever be the same again if I saw that in my house, or anywhere else for that matter. I actually have no idea what I would do. You couldn't let it out of your sight, but how the *beep* are you supposed to kill it!? Did you think it was poisonous when you first saw it?
I can deal with almost anything except spiders. The thought of even trying to tackle it as a problem to be solved makes me want to scream. I'm a big 6 foot 2 guy with a deep voice, but I mean scream.
This is actually one of the things that is terrifying me most about coming to China. I remember I once saw a massive one (tiny compared to that one) called a "garden spider" i think it is, under a few rubbish bags in my back yard. I've had nightmares about it ever since, no joke. And even the thought of it now has me feeling itchy and cringing (I never did see where it went.......)
Need to just get over it I suppose
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C'mon...tell us how you really feel. 
Meize, don't worry about it. 7969 probably bought that down at the local market and set it up for a photo. I hope he didn't waste it, though. They are pretty good at that...especially with that sweet and sour sauce. You'll see. The Japanese like them, too. You ever go out for sushi and order the spider roll? Best when fresh...mmmm, crunchy! Don't worry about it, though, if you don't think you can stomach it. Just don't think about it when you bite into an eggroll and get that little crunch. It's just...umm...a fried noodle or something. Come on in, bud - the water's fine.
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Haha. If it's dead and it doesn't look like a spider any more I will munch it down, not a bother. But if it's alive, looks like a spider, and makes any kind of movement towards me I will be gone, straight out of the flat and probably the country 
Do they have much exotic and terrifying fauna up North, does anyone know? Snow tarantulas, or the like... |
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GeminiTiger
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 999
Location: China, 2005--Present
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| Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:12 am Post subject: |
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| mieze wrote: |
Do they have much exotic and terrifying fauna up North, does anyone know? Snow tarantulas, or the like... |
they do the have artiac albino nocterm morte , a latin name given to a spider that translates as snowy white night death said to carry away tunda dwellers to the realm of the dead.
actually, the great thing about cold places is that for some reason it really screws with animals of a certain type, namely poisonous critters. |
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