reminders of how temporary life can be

Northeast of Nanjing xi rd.

Living in China- China grants very few non-chinese citizens permanent resident status, so its always been assumed living here would only span a short amount of time. (By "short" we mean a minority of our lives.) So we trod on day to day, knowing that one day we will will leave all of this behind and return to the US (aka the promised land, land of milk n honey) Its not like we dislike China- it is just different. We purchase less big ticket items, since we won't be able to bring them home (furniture, crib, etc) and  try our best to purge un-needed stuff every year, (ok some of us do) knowing that one day I'll move back to America with the same 2 suitcases I came here with. 

Last night we handed our rent money to our landlord, who lives next door. We also mentioned we'd need some furniture moved out to make space for Baby. Dear friend of ours were giving us their awesome sofas and we wanted the old sofa out. (Old sofa= sags really far down, has tassles, etc) The landlord replies, 

"Why do you want to change the furniture? Your going to have to move in Sept anyways when my son takes over the apartment." 

Pause.

A month prior, we had inquired if the landlord's son (whom we knew was getting married this year) was going to want our apt, which is all too common here. Two of our friends recently were booted for the same reason- Chinese families purchase apartments for their son to take over when he gets wed. We  wanted to make sure we wouldn't have to move with a newborn...

So there we were, staring at the tasseled sofa, taking in the news. I'm 8 months pregnant, can't lift anything, and I have a hard time bending down in my big-bellyness. If we wait until after Baby is born, we are two nervous new parents with a baby, sleep deprived and trying to figure how to live day to day. Then the landlord walks out looking at our artwork- "What is this? Art? its just fabric on a frame? Does it look good? Hao kan ma?" And then he leaves.

Maybe this is what I get for complaining about the furniture? We knew we wouldn't live here forever, but we loved the area and the spacious apartment. And life goes on- we'll have to move in the next few months. Just today I was considering what that really meant:

-Running around after work visiting apartments, asking tons of questions negotiating renovations; and trying to size up the landlord in 5 minutes and negotiate some more. And then argue about the furniture and negotiate some more.

-Then packing up everything in boxes, labeling, and moving to new place

-To unpack and clean and re-build systems. Re-learn the neighborhood, grocery shopping, buses, metro...

Its not the end of the world, but not exactly what we needed right now. Baby, please don't come out until we can have a proper home!

Pros of moving/my hopes:

-4 burner stove that works

-Bathrooms with windows, for air

-An open kitchen, for easier hosting

-A big balcony, for BBQing!

-A big refrigerator

-Beds with storage underneath

-Furniture that is sturdy

-Air conditioner that is effective in each room.

And if the next place doesn't have all these nice things, that's OK with me. Its only temporary.