Telethon girl; I’m moving out.
I ended up briefly appearing onstage at this telethon for tsunami victims. At first, the school just invited the foreign teachers to a benefit concert. Then we were told foreign students would have to perform, but we would just watch. That seemed okay with me. They also said a lot of Hong Kong and Mainland stars would be onhand to perform. So anyway, I went, and when we were in the car going to the TV station, the lady from the foreign office told me she’d just been informed that we’d have to get up on stage at some point, wearing ECNU sweatshirts, and make a contribution. In the end, no stars showed up at all (or anyway, no stars that I recognized). There was one mortifying part featuring foreigners, including a creepy Michael Jackson imitator, and a guy who couldn’t sing (but kept shouting, “Yee haw!”) wearing a cowboy hat. We were announced as something like “representatives of the foreign community, consulates, and the cast of Phantom of the Opera” (which is being performed here now). Then we all had to file up on stage. It was surprisingly nervewracking, for some reason.
Another piece of news is that today, finding my toilet wouldn’t work again, I finally got fed up and decided to move out. I went to a rental agent Xu Gai suggested, and they showed me a VERY nice apartment close to campus. It’s 2000 RMB a month, and in effect I’m paying 2500 for the one I have now. I hope I can switch. I just have to meet the landlords tomorrow, and if they like me, I’ll move in soon.