11/6 Monday

I went to meet Yue Laoshi, the Chinese teacher who taught me Chinese during my summer 2004 trip abroad, and my 2005 term abroad at the China Music Conservatory. I took the subway to the #13 line and headed to the north west of the city. The #13 line is more modern than the inner city lines and uses electronic ticket readers very similar to those found in Japan. The main lines in Beijing still use paper tickets and paper-tearers, and don’t have electronic ticket dispensers. From the station I took a cab to the Music Conservatory. The cab driver didn’t know where the Conservatory was, but after pulling out his taxi bible, with all possible destinations in it, we found it.

When I got to the school, I found that I couldn’t get in the main gate due to the construction. It seemed that the entire campus was under scaffolding, and the sound of construction was everywhere. I located yue laoshi, and talked to her for a while about housing and my future plans.

She showed me my housing option, which would be in the main dormitory building on campus. My apartment was on the 17th floor (out of 20) and had a kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom, and a small windowed/screened-in balcony. I would be paying 2,400 yuan for the month, plus the electric and water bill. It didn’t seem cheap at first, but compared to the states, it is the equivalent of paying about $10 a night, a bargain.