Things are moving slowly here—reeeaaally slowly. We’re still in our unfortunate little hotel room, and haven’t yet found anything we’re enthused about moving into. Honestly, I really wish we hadn’t even seen the first house, because nothing else has even come close! Here’s what we’ve seen:
Contender #1: the house we saw last week had two floors, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two (very simple) balconies, a living room, kitchen, and study/loft space. It was simple, but very airy, lots of natural light, relatively close to the school, furnished. 3,000,000/month plus utilities.
Contender #2: a small house with a really pretty front courtyard, one floor, one bedroom, one bath, kitchen, living room. Sketchy furniture, desperately needed a paint job, a solid 10-15 drive from school. 3,000,000/month plus utilities.
Contender #3: teeny-tiny place with a shared front courtyard/gated space, living room, bedroom, bath, closet-pretending-to-be-a-kitchen. Unfurnished (although buying furniture would be pretty cheap), very little natural light, 10 minute drive from school. 1,200,000/month plus utilities.
Contender #4: the bottom floor of a house: 2 bedrooms, one semi-sketchy bath, a big kitchen, living room, gated front. Looks like a decent amount of natural light, within walking distance of school and the open market, would be freshly painted. Unfortunately, the first floor is currently attached to the rest of the house, and it would take a week for the painting and renovations to block off stairways and entrances. On a busy street. The owners want us to move into their daughter’s room (she’s studying abroad in the US) upstairs for the week so we don’t have to stay in our hotel. 5,000,000/month.
Contender #5: an apartment: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, very modern kitchen, living room, small balcony with a great view. Furnished, plenty of light, we could rent for a month while we continue looking. A 15 minute drive from school. 7,000,000/month plus utilities.
This is getting ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, we are very anxious to get out of our hotel room, but we really don’t want to settle for something we don’t like. Part of the stress here is that the school’s owners are spending a lot of time and energy looking for something, and every time they show us a place that we don’t like, I feel as if I’m seriously letting them down. It definitely felt that way last night when we looked at Contender #4—I think they were really excited about it, and thought it was a really good option.
Another piece of the puzzle is our current transportation situation. The school’s owner has been very patiently working with Joey and I to teach us to drive a motorbike. Oohhhh goodness. Before trying, I was confident (probably too much so) that we’d be able to learn without too much trouble. Not so much. Joey’s doing much better than I am, but I ride with a perpetually terrified look on my face. Luckily, that is usually enough to tip of pedestrians that they should move out of the way, since at the current time, I’m unable to move my hand far enough off of the handle to hit the horn.
Part of it is a balance issue—I’m not particularly graceful on my feet, and balancing the weight of the motorbike isn’t something I have the hang of yet. I know it’s easier at higher speeds, but I really don’t want to get to higher speeds right now!
Another issue is adjusting to what my hands need to be doing—the difference between the gas and the brake, etc. I tend to panic when I start going faster than I like, and my first inclination is to do the opposite of what I was doing. Unfortunately, I frequently get mixed up and tell the bike to speed up instead of slowing down. It’s very reminiscent of my disastrous first driving experience, which makes me very, very nervous.
Anyway, you can understand why a house that’s a 15 minute drive from here (or any drive, really) is sort of a problem right now. I’m sure we’ll get the hang of driving soon enough—at least Joey will—but when we’re talking about moving in somewhere immediately, it’s sort of an issue.
At the same time that I’m feeling incredibly stressed/frustrated by our living situation, all of my reservations about the job itself and the school’s owners are gone. They have really done everything they can to make us feel comfortable here. Both the school’s owner and her sister lived in the U.S. for 10 years, and have said multiple times that they understand how difficult it can be to move to a new country where you don’t speak the language and may not fully understand the customs.
Phew. If you made it through all of that—good for you. I think we’re going to see another house this afternoon, so maybe I’ll have good news later!
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