Job Discussion Forums

[kev7161]

Regardless of my earlier posting: Good for you! You're right, sometimes a school can throw you an unexpected, yet pleasant, curve ball. I went up this past weekend to sign my contract and I was given a two-bedroom place . . . and I'm a single guy! They are really bending over backwards to please me and I hope that, come September, I earn their generosity.

[no_exit]

Congrats on the stroke of good luck.

I don't know about other places, but here in km, good two bedroom apartments are often cheaper than one bedroom places. The one bedroom apartments tend to be either real holes in the wall, or else incredibly fancy, ridiculously expensive, brand new places. There are more two bedrooms out there to choose from. During my recent apartment hunt I saw a fully furnished 2 bedroom place, a bit older, but definitly livable, for 650 a month, in an incredibly central location. The only actually livable one-bedroom places I saw were 800-1000RMB. I saw one place for 350, but it was tiny, dirty, unfurnished, no western toilet, only one window ... So bigger doesn't always mean more expensive, it really depends on the market.

I don't like living in school supplied housing anyhow, whether it is on or off-campus. Many employers around here will supply a housing allowance if you want to choose your own place (renting a place here is not nearly as much of a hassle as you'd imagine it to be). It is something you can always ask about. Schools regularly rent out their vacant teacher's housing anyhow, so it is not like they would have to lose money on the deal, unless they actually plan to set you up in a dorm room.

[wonderd]

Good stuff! I'm happy to hear a happy ending!

If you can ever find out the steps they took to get the appropriate visas, that would be great. I am very interested.