New Apartment!!

On Tuesday I was finally able to move into my new apartment with my room mate Elise.  It was so nice to finally unpack and have all my stuff where it belonged.  Walking around our new home we were both super excited and we both thought we had gotten one of the better apartments compared to some of our coworkers.  The place is fully furnished besides sheets and dishes, with a huge flat screen television, mondo speakers and leather couches.  We were given a form to fill out that documented all the faults in the apartment so we wouldn't get charged for being responsible for the damages.  Walking around and inspecting every inch of the apartment we discovered that three of our windows do not have latches, so turning on the air conditioning is pointless.  The gas stove does not work, we have no hot water, and there is no handle to my bedroom door. That night I was so ready to climb into my bed and get some rest, and as I lay there I felt a sharp pang in my back.  I move a little and there is another in a different part of my back.  I get up and feel with my hands only to find that the springs in the mattress are poking through the mattress and stabbing me in the back.  Due to exhaustion, I decide to stick it out and try to sleep atop my comforter and use my towel as a blanket.  I ended up tossing and turning all night.  In the morning I awoke to my fingers and eyes swollen and painful to the touch.  In the past that has been my body's response to black mold being in my vicinity.  I decided to scour over every room more carefully and found black mold all over the bathroom, in the kitchen, and on the walls.  I talked to the ladies in admissions office at the school and they sent over the handyman from the school.  Most of what we put on our damages list he said we are just going to have to deal with, and getting rid of the mold would be up to me, because everybody has black mold in China.  I went to Wal-Mart looking for some clorox spray cleaner, but the thing does not exist here.  I found a cleaner of some sort under the kitchen sink and scrubbed and scrubbed at the black mold with no luck.  For some reason it likes where it is and is not coming off.  Tomorrow I plan on asking one of the translators to come with me to find some kind of bleach solution so I can get rid of the mold and feel better about living in my apartment.  

Funny side note.  The other day I came home and I couldn't unlock my apartment because someone had locked the special inside lock.  I was about to leave when the door opened and a Chinese lady is standing in my apartment with her shoes off.  I didn't know what to do, so I went in and put my bags in my room and come out to see the woman sitting on my couch with her hands behind her head and her feet up on my coffee table.  Just then I remembered that the school provides a maid service and this must be her.  Once she sees that I am not leaving, she gets her shoes on and leaves.  A little later I go to my coworkers apartment to hang out and the maid is there sitting on their couch with her hands behind her head and her feet up on their coffee table.  At least she wasn't smoking a cigarette, right? 

So far, we have gotten our hot water turned on, and a door handle for my bedroom.  Hopefully we will get our kitchen stove to work soon, because I'm a little tired of cereal and yogurt.  Plus, as much as I like our leather couch, it's not the most comfortable thing in the world to sleep on, but it is far better than having springs stab your back all night long!