I found an apartment! And I've moved in though there was a bit of drama before I could actually sign the lease. My Chinese friend and coworker, Rebecca, helped me look for places to make sure that I got a good deal from the landlord. We looked at what felt like a hundred places before I finally found a place that I actually liked. I met the girl who lived there before and she informed the landlord that I wanted the place. He was not so sure about letting a foreigner move in and said he'd have to meet me in person. If my Chinese language skills were not good enough and he didn't think he could communicate with me, he wouldn't let me have it. So, I studied vocab all morning that I thought would impress him and it worked! He was a nice guy and I signed the lease with my Chinese name (台美芮). His wife was not so nice. She told me that I looked really fat in my passport photo. Thank you?
Anyway, the day I moved in I noticed that there is a police station attached to the bottom of my apartment building. Normally I'd be glad because that might mean less crime in the area, but I'm more afraid of police than I am of anyone else in China!
-mk