Job Discussion Forums

[kungfuman]

[chinatimes]

Bottom line, it doesn't matter if it is on campus or not. Too many people are "placing bets" not accepting campus housing.

What you need are either accurate photos or visit the school first. I have lived 4 years in Kyoto (central tourist Kyoto, where rent starts at $1,000 USD), Korea (Gangnam area in Seoul, rich area, but for single apartments they are small), and now China (bigger apartments, actually more amenities).

Now, 8-10 years later, I am in the best housing for 1 person on campus. The smallest bathroom is twice the size of other bathrooms (3 times the size as my last apartment), and the bigger bathroom is quite nice. I don't know what the complaints are about heat, because I had to wear shorts in winter due to all the radiators at my last place (I couldn't turn them off either cause it affected the whole complex, that wasn't a campus place). This on campus place has 5 radiators, 2 medium sized in the living room area, 1 small in both bathrooms, and a big one near my bed. They have knobs to turn them off, and hopefully I can use them in winter when things get too hot. Right now they have the place air-conditioned. As far as complaints, I am not seeing the problems.

What I did was visit the campus first. I walked into one of the teacher places and it's exactly as the place I am in now, just the bathroom is now on the left of the bedroom instead of right. Big deal.

Get photos if you are too far away to visit or don't want to visit. In my experiences, apartment landlords are the ones who skimp out and are stingy. On campus, you share the building with other teachers, so the place is going to be well kept. There are no strangers coming and going, either family or friends. That's another thing, NO solicitors!!! At my other places (all apartments in the city area, no on campus) I would be woken up at 7am or in the evening because someone was selling something or wanting money for some service I didn't need.

It's protection, security guards at the entrances, no annoying street vendors. If you can, consider on campus. The internet connection is also better on campus I found. They have to maintain the bandwidth for the whole campus, not just one customer. I download things at off-times almost twice as fast. At dinner time or holidays, yes, I do admit it is slow so you can't stream. Small price to pay, a few days a year. Big deal.

Good luck

[scholar]

It is best to live on campus. The staff and faculty can help you to handle life which is hard for foreigners. Generally, foreigners do not learn Chinese, because Chinese is the hardest language. It is easy to be cheated. So campus is the most secure environment.

[rdobbs98]

I finally got pictures of the "apartment" and it certainly is not even close to an apartment. Two rooms, room with a bed and a sort of living room. Kitchen is shared and so are the bathrooms. No wonder they waited this long to send them.

[Non Sequitur]

That's one up from 'hotel type' where you live in the bedroom!
Walk away brother!

[kungfuman]