犹豫
Tuesday the fifth: Just had a rice noodle lunch and then koffee in the library basement with Korean friends. One guy said his mother has the same handbag as me. These sweet boys and their mothers! Ever Basic's always talking about needing mothering. He says he hasn't grown up yet, and all mothers are love to their sons. It makes me think about war, I'm not sure why.
It wasn't such a relaxing weekend, actually. Ever Basic suddenly came up with the idea that I could have his flat after he and his flatmate Alien go back to Seoul in a month or two. He needs someone to take it because he's discovered that his lease is half a year longer than he thought when he signed it. This totally changes my whole situation, it kicks me into moving into my own place for the busier semester to come, which is what I've been wanting to do anyway. So I went to see his flat and it's poky and not great, but would fit my purposes fine. It's in a much shabbier development right next to the shiny nouveau-riche one where I live now. Kitchen and bathroom basic but okay - the kitchen needs a bit of elbow grease, I think the boys just don't really use it. The appliances are all new and the two bedrooms are comfy, and there's a little living room with a sofa and a big screen and, for some reason, a large Grecian plaster bust and a painted clay horse. If I can find a flatmate, it will cost each of us 600 kuai a month, plus electricity and food.
Oh God, so now I just can't stop thinking of every up and down of everything. Is it stupid to move from poshness to relative squalor just so I can have my own space and desk and can put things on the walls and roll around on the floor if I feel like it? And above all, have friends over for DVDs and tea and things. One outstanding friend joked that I should just rent the flat as a "holiday home" and when it gets too rigid at the Teachers' or whatever, I can go there and jump on the beds. And am I too scared to cut the umbilical cord from Teacher Woodchild? That's stupid, being patronised is making me soft in the head anyway. I'd like to find a flatmate who'll speak Chinese, so a Korean or Japanese student would be good. And how and what will I cook, and what do Chinese people use those glassed-in balcony spaces for? The landlady seems responsible, she doesn't live nearby but when the boys need things done she's good about doing them, and she pays the heating bill. And I don't know yet how easy it'll be to install a phone and I'd like broadband too. It's handy though, Ever Basic bought all kinds of things for the flat which he's just leaving there.
I'm particularly concerned about how to move out of the Teachers' without hurting anyone's feelings. I wouldn't be the first Edinburgh student to move out of their Chinese family but I want to be the politest! There you have it. Sorry about the lack of pictures: boring, I know. When I take a good batch I'll add them.
It wasn't such a relaxing weekend, actually. Ever Basic suddenly came up with the idea that I could have his flat after he and his flatmate Alien go back to Seoul in a month or two. He needs someone to take it because he's discovered that his lease is half a year longer than he thought when he signed it. This totally changes my whole situation, it kicks me into moving into my own place for the busier semester to come, which is what I've been wanting to do anyway. So I went to see his flat and it's poky and not great, but would fit my purposes fine. It's in a much shabbier development right next to the shiny nouveau-riche one where I live now. Kitchen and bathroom basic but okay - the kitchen needs a bit of elbow grease, I think the boys just don't really use it. The appliances are all new and the two bedrooms are comfy, and there's a little living room with a sofa and a big screen and, for some reason, a large Grecian plaster bust and a painted clay horse. If I can find a flatmate, it will cost each of us 600 kuai a month, plus electricity and food.
Oh God, so now I just can't stop thinking of every up and down of everything. Is it stupid to move from poshness to relative squalor just so I can have my own space and desk and can put things on the walls and roll around on the floor if I feel like it? And above all, have friends over for DVDs and tea and things. One outstanding friend joked that I should just rent the flat as a "holiday home" and when it gets too rigid at the Teachers' or whatever, I can go there and jump on the beds. And am I too scared to cut the umbilical cord from Teacher Woodchild? That's stupid, being patronised is making me soft in the head anyway. I'd like to find a flatmate who'll speak Chinese, so a Korean or Japanese student would be good. And how and what will I cook, and what do Chinese people use those glassed-in balcony spaces for? The landlady seems responsible, she doesn't live nearby but when the boys need things done she's good about doing them, and she pays the heating bill. And I don't know yet how easy it'll be to install a phone and I'd like broadband too. It's handy though, Ever Basic bought all kinds of things for the flat which he's just leaving there.
I'm particularly concerned about how to move out of the Teachers' without hurting anyone's feelings. I wouldn't be the first Edinburgh student to move out of their Chinese family but I want to be the politest! There you have it. Sorry about the lack of pictures: boring, I know. When I take a good batch I'll add them.