First month in China...

Quite unintentionally, this blog has gone neglected for over a month. Oops! And now that it is the beginning of October, it is high time that I post an update.

So many new experiences, new people, and just getting adjusted to life in this city have made this past month a flurry of excitement, a little stress, and a lot of fun. Once I get my thoughts in order, I will post more about the people I've met and places I've gone so far. For now, here's a detailed photo post about my apartment and some of my campus. Enjoy!

The main gate of our university

Looking back at the main gate from inside campus

Walking down one of the main roads on campus towards our apartment complex; the street leading to the gate is on the left, this is looking towards our apartments

A view of our apartment complex from that road. This is the "playground" as the students call it, one of the better tracks/soccer fields on campus.

The tunnel of trees. Same road, looking back towards the main part of campus. The track&field is on the left, and there are tennis courts and volleyball nets on the right.

A view of our apartments from the other side. A lot of families and older couples live in this complex. 

All of the foreign teachers live in the same building on different floors. Mine is on the first floor, so that's my barred window on the left. The other English teachers with me are on the second and third floors.

The hallway to the stairwell. I believe only one other family lives on the first floor, and they are on the right.

My door! It fusses when I lock and unlock it, but I can't beat first floor access.

Welcome! My beautiful foyer/mudroom/laundry room/dining room/hallway. It's a multipurpose foyer.

A wonderful new washing machine. There used to be an old, ugly, nasty one in the other room, but thankfully they finally took that away. This one works beautifully. I'm so grateful!!

The bathroom is immediately to the right of the front door. It is a very typical Chinese bathroom where the toilet, sink, and shower are all in one space with no separation.

I was doing laundry, so that's why there is a hose attached to my faucet. I do in fact have 2 plungers. The sole purpose for the one on the left is to cover the drain in the floor when not needed. This is because since I am on the first floor, many unique smells come out of my bathroom, and covering the drain helps a bit with that. More on my bathroom situation at a later time however. It requires it's own separate post. For the moment, just notice the window above the toilet.

More bathroom. Hoorah.

And, the shower. For those unfamiliar with China, this is very normal, to not have a bathtub or even a shower curtain. So water does tend to get everywhere in the bathroom every time you shower.

Down the hall/foyer to the kitchen. I think the two doors will come in handy when it gets cold. It's already starting to get chilly, and keeping them closed helps keep in the warmth. Though my kitchen is getting a bit nippy.

Sometime soon I will start baking. The previous teachers who lived here left behind a bunch of pots/pans and kitchen utensils, so it's wonderful not having to buy it all from scratch.

My kitchen came with a microwave, a toaster oven, a gas stove burner, a hot plate (and kettle), and a rice cooker. I believe all (except the rice cooker and kettle) were provided by the school.

And also a water cooler. Because those are a necessity when tap water is a no no. I brought a few kitchen things with me that will be very useful, so combined with what was already here it's actually a fairly well-stocked kitchen.

Remember that window in the bathroom? Yeah.....it opens onto the kitchen. Because that makes sense.

The view from my kitchen. Looking back at the campus gate. The building where I teach is really close to that big gate building, so this gives you some idea of how close I live. It's about a 5 minute walk to class everyday. Very very convenient!

Back in the hallway. The first floor apartment is actually bigger than the others, with two bedrooms instead of one. I tried to be nice and offer it to the others, but somehow it ended up mine. I feel a little guilty, but I do really like the space.

Right now, the extra bedroom is my giant walk-in closet (it has two wardrobes) and storage area.

My bedroom! It is a single bed (slightly bigger than a US single). It is actually smaller than the other bedroom and has the single bed (instead of a double bed like the other bedroom), so why did I choose this one instead of the bigger one? Two big reasons: 1) That window at the left opens into the living room. Strange yes, but the only air conditioning unit is in the living room. So when I arrived, this room got much better air flow and thus was much cooler than the other bedroom. Which was a beautiful thing when the weather was so hot the first few weeks. 2) That heater unit right next to the bed. The other bedroom has a heater too, but it is also next to an outside window. So my hope is that my room will also be warmer in the winter.

I've been trying my hardest to memorize my students as quickly as possible. They each made name-cards in my class, so on our first day of class, I took a picture of each of them holding their name-cards. I have those on my phone like flashcards to memorize their names and faces. Additionally though, I had them fill out these info cards with photos they provided, so I can also remember some basic information about them. Putting them on my wall is also a good reminder to constantly 'think' of them as much as possible.

They really like their windows that lead to other rooms. A bit odd, but in this case it was kind of nice for the air conditioning.

"Hallway" to the living room.

The living room. The furniture was provided, along with the TV. I browse through the channels occasionally. I found the couple channels that often have English programs or movies, which is cool. Otherwise, I like watching the Chinese version of "The Voice". I never watched it in America, but it's familiar enough that it's easier for me to know what's going on (unlike a LOT of other programs) and it's good listening practice.

I brought quite a few posters with me, though most I had originally bought in China anyway. There's the air conditioner of amazing. It's off now because it's getting colder, but it was a lifesaver just a few weeks ago. And the guitar in the corner was left behind by a previous teacher. More on that later probably, but it in short, it's been fun to have an instrument to noodle around on.

The desk that I don't really sit at, but great for keeping things organized. Note: The painting on the desk was in the big bedroom when I arrived. I love it so much because the boats near the wooded shore kind of reminds me of the lake. I moved it here so it would be more prominent, and so I would see it everyday. I don't know who bought it originally, but I'm very glad they left it behind. :)

Explanation: This has just happened in the last few days. It used to be mostly blank wall space. However, I just did a class about the value of art, etc., and part of the assignment was them bringing in photos of 3 works of art to share. Instead of letting them go to waste, I decided to keep them and do....well, this. Still have one class to go, so it's not finished yet. I don't know if it's crazy or not, but at least it makes this large wall way more interesting to look at now.

I recently got two bamboo plants for my apartment. Since I can't have a pet, I thought plants would be the next best thing. It's nice to have something living in the house that I have to take care of. So far, so good, I haven't killed them yet.

My "porch". Mostly for the clothesline to hang my laundry (most people don't have dryers, so everyone uses clotheslines), and also extra storage space. Currently, my fellow teacher's Christmas tree lives in here too.

And back at the front door. Thanks for enduring the tour!

My apologies once again for the delay in updates! I have many more pictures to share, so once I start getting those organized, more posts will be on their way soon!