It doesn’t seem like that long ago when my little family felt the strain of the global economic crisis. In spring 2009, our then landlord informed us that we would have to move since he needed to sell the apartment and get his money back into South Korea where he lived. It actually worked out in our favor, as we were able to rent a larger, more nicely furnished apartment that was closer to Savvy’s office and more centrally located in Wangjing.
We like our complex and the location, but the landlord told us when we moved in that the apartment was for his daughter once she graduated from the university on the other side of town. No problem, thought I. That could take ages what with graduate school and a doctoral program. What young lady doesn’t want to study for a decade these days? Well, for one, the landlord’s daughter. Seems she only needed a brief two years to graduate, find a job, and be ready for her well looked after home in the heart of Wangjing. So, we’re on the hunt for a new apartment but, oh, the times have changed.
The biggest change? Greed. Or insanity. It must be one of those because I don’t know what else would cause the rent for the very same apartment we are living in now to increase by 50 percent in a year. Home prices in Wangjing are way up, but you still can’t find a cab driver that knows the neighborhood.
Once again we have found a complex that we like that is closer to Savvy’s office and Reina’s school (just across the street), so we plan to do our part to make Beijing a little bit greener and substituting cabs for walking. The other good news is that we will find the perfect place on Wednesday of next week. I know this because past experience has taught me that the last place I look at is always the perfect one for us and Wednesday is the last day I’ve allotted for apartment hunting. It’s nice to know our search is almost over. Now if I could just locate a cab.
