Home Sweet Home

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When we left for China, we had some idea as to what possible living situations we might face, but we knew that Chinese standards and western standards can differ drastically. For example, we were told we would have a furnished apartment and told not to bring too many household items. When we arrived at 11:30 pm, we were shown into a clean, furnished apartment. We were impressed with the general cleanliness of the apartment and with made beds; we were surprised and disappointed with the lack of toilet paper (there was none) and potable water (can't drink from the tap here), and the local store had closed long before we arrived. But we were so tired that we just fell into bed, planning on dealing with those issues in the morning. Fortunately, I had exchanged some currency before the trip and the next morning was able to go out and buy us breakfast and some basic necessities.

Other things that surprised us (well at least me) were that the kitchen had nothing in it aside from the stove top, microwave, and toaster oven (and sink, of course). We had to begin furnishing out kitchen right away -- and, in fact, we are still in that process. The living room furniture which was provided was a traditional Chinese wooden couch and arm chairs. These are comfortable enough to sit in for short periods of time, but there is no stretching out to read or lounging around on the laptop. In addition, there is nothing in the living area to absorb any sound (no carpet, wall hangings, furniture) so from the living room to the kitchen is an echo chamber -- not a very good situation for me. We are currently working on trying to remedy the situation, but mostly we try to keep rather quiet out there.

For a full look at the apartment, watch the following video:


Overall, the apartment has been well furnished for us, but there are definitely some changes we are making to help us be more comfortable and more able to host guests, specifically some of my students.

Below are some pictures of the area surrounding our apartment. Overall, I am very pleased with the location because we are on the outskirts of town, so the noise level of the area is very low even given the fact that our compound houses several thousand people. We live on the 12th floor (and, yes, there is an elevator) which actually is a blessing since we are significantly above the mosquito zone. We have seen no mosquitoes in the apartment and only a couple of dead cockroaches. So, pretty much insect free.

The reconstruction in the area does intrude into the general peace of our compound, though. They are remodeling our building, along with several others, but the problem is these structures are made almost entirely of concrete, which means that remodeling includes jackhammering and drilling, noises that reverberate throughout the entire building. There have been several occasions that I have just had to leave the building for a few hours because of the noise.





There definitely are some things we are adjusting to in our new surroundings, but please don't take this as me complaining about our situation. We are pleased with where we are. I just wanted you to be aware of some of the additional challenges faced when relocating overseas.



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