this place we call home

One of the most positive things about our move to Tianjin is that we really, really like our apartment here. It far exceeds any expectations we had for where we would be living. If you've been following the preparation for the move on my previous blog, then you know that we had some periods of serious anxiety about where we would be living--on campus? off campus? how expensive? how close to campus?

Thanks to the efforts of Ben's employers, and the help of my brother, we have been able to move into a place right next to the campus of Nankai University. Walk about a block north, and you reach the west gate of the campus. Pretty sweet.


(We still don't really know for sure exactly where Ben will be teaching--his employer is a company that matches teachers and schools at the schools' request, on an as-needed basis. But it's very likely that he'll be teaching at a school near this neighborhood. He'll find out soon, probably next week.)


Anyway, this place is big, has great light, is in a nice little neighborhood, has an a/c unit, has decent bathroom fixtures, and has a brand new bed and wardrobe, bought by our landlord upon move-in. It's affordable (the same price it would have cost to have Ben move into the dormitory with me), functional, and quite comfortable.

Here are some shots of our new place:



This is Ben "studying" (read: surfing the newly hooked-up internet) in our somewhat sparse office area. Zhou You's (Sam's fiance's) dad is loaning us a second desk to put in here, so we'll both have a place to study/work. The walls are pretty bare in there--not much to show.








Our living room: fully equipped with the longest sofa ever. The other day Ben and I lay down on opposite ends of it and watched The Lord of the Rings.







Bedroom, with little enclosed sunroom-type area just beyond--ideal for hanging laundry to dry. Let me tell you: that bed is huge. It is also very hard. I haven't quite got used to that, yet. Oh, soft American bed, how I miss you!







Bathroom. Believe it or not, that shower was the selling-point of this apartment for us. Neither of the other two apartments we looked at had enclosed showers; they just had shower heads coming out of the wall, and a drain (sort of) nearby on the floor. Mopping up after every shower can be a real headache, so this was very appealing. In the far right corner, you can see our little washing machine.


And this is our little kitchen. Well, actually, it's just the inside part of our kitchen (cabinets, fridge, table). Just beyond that door at the end of the room is another little room with a cooking area: gas burners, sink.














It's feeling more like home every day.