Score one for me

I've recently started thinking about the John Lennon song "Starting Over" and it very much corresponds to my life now. I'm freaking 30, and I'm living in a dorm, in China. Remember when we were in undergrad and you wonder about those creepy grad students who've been trying to get their PhD in Comparative Ancient Luxembourgian Literature for the last 12 years, and who look way too old to be a college student. Yeah, I sorta feel like that.

So today I moved into my dorm here at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. I know in previous postings, I had expressed concern about who my roommate was going to be and how I hoped he wasn't a d-bag. Well, I woke up early, checked out of my hotel, and arrived on campus at 10am. It seems like I was the only student there to check-in. Anyhow, I figured I might as well ask to see if a 1-person room was available. No harm in asking, worse they can say is no. So I axxed, and they said (in Chinese) "yes we have one single room left b/c someone cancelled. Would you like it?" And my answer was "fuck yes!" Not in such vulgar terms, but same same.

With a 2-person room, you get your own bathroom inside the room. But with a 1-person room, you have to share toliets and showers located in a separate room a few doors down from yours. Still, I think having your own room is better than sharing personal space, etc.

The room is actually pretty nice. It has internet, a desk, a bookcase, a dresser, tv, microwave, mini-fridge, and a water dispenser that I have yet to figure out. The room is on the first floor, which means I didn't have to haul my luggage up a few flights of stairs. The room door even has a small red heart sticker with 5 yellow stars on it (similar to the Chinese flag). Aww, someone loves me. I'll post some pictures of my room when I get all my shit settled.

Speaking of shit, this is the one part of the dorm experience I'm loathing. The poo toliets are Asian squat style. I don't know if I sound like a spoiled American when I say this, but I've never pooed while squatting, and have never wanted to. Frankly, I'm terrified of squatting to poo. What if I have a particularly bad bowel movement, and going in to the stall I'm just regular Shangbert, but exiting the stall I look like the young Jamal in Slumdog Millionaire running after his favorite actor while covered in... well, you get the idea. Dammit, well at least my room isn't that far. Wish me luck...


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