Before I moved to China, I had no idea what my housing situation would look like. I had seen youtube videos of a lot of different ESL teachers’ apartments, but hadn’t seen pictures of my apartment specifically. I had asked for pictures, but they didn’t give me any.
not. a. good. sign.
Luckily, my apartment is perfect for me. It’s not 5-star hotel…it’s more like a…hmm…actually, I have no idea where it would fall on the star rating, but it’s my new home and I’m beyond thankful for it. When I first arrived, it needed some major cleaning and a little TLC– I was excited to do both. Since I have been here, the school found out about the condition of the ESL teachers’ apartments and bought us some new things to make up for it. It was such a blessing!!
My utensils still only consist of a butcher knife, two pairs of chopsticks, a spatula, 1 spoon, and 1 butter knife, but it’s just me here and I now have amazing wifi (thanks to the school)– so what more do I really need?!? 😉
Here are some of the before and after pictures throughout my apartment:
BEFORE: I’m not the girly-est girl in the world so the pink and the purple threw me off a bit, but not as much as the random placement of these wallpaper panels. Haha.
AFTER: It was a long, difficult journey to get three 50 lb bags and a backpack to the other side of the world, but it was worth it. It feels so much more like home to have a quilt my granny made me, pictures, wall stickers, and even my body pillow that I brought in a vacuum sealed bag!
You may call packing all of this crazy…. I call it determined.
Panoramic of my bedroom.
Declaration decoration. #love2know
I just realized how badly that is off center. Looks like I’ll be moving my bed tonight.
Bedside motivators:
Time. My Bible. My sweet Nina. Love from Looty. And when all else fails, a picture of Kenj looking at me (in loving kindness) like, ” Rachel, you’re being ridiculous… Get it together!”
BEFORE: Just a bathroom and shower combo. No curtain needed. It’s just the way they do things around these parts.
AFTER: Very similar. The school bought me a new shower head (YAY!) and I put up a wall sticker from home.
It’s the little things that make me happy and it’s the little seeds that we scatter in hopes that they fall in rich soil that will one day grow into a plentiful harvest. #love2know
BEFORE: The sink portion of my bathroom.
AFTER: My wonderful Emoji wall stickers from Kota make this random sink room a lot more fun. Also, please don’t judge my essential oil collection. Once again, I know it may seem crazy that I packed so much, but considering I got sick my very first week and my oils and prayer are the only things that helped me, I think it was worth it.
Also, those water bottles are what I am currently using to wash my face. The water here is too polluted and burns my face so face wipes and bottled water are my temporary solution.
This is a closet like thing and those 2 high wires are for me to hang my clothes on to dry. I have two closets like this and currently I’m using the other one to hang my clothes. This closet also has the part of my air conditioned that blows the hot air out in it. So, I guess it would make for a great dryer since they don’t use dryers here.
BEFORE: I know this is gross, but I had to.. this is how dirty the drains were when I arrived.
AFTER: this is actually a different drain because I forgot to take a before picture of it, but I was really proud of my cleaning job! IT’S SO MUCH BETTER!
BEFORE: That door is my front door and this is my living room/dining room area. Also, that funky-fresh, purple couch is also a futon so anyone that wants to come stay with me, I have room!
AFTER: More wall stickers, a cross, and a bit of a mess where I’ve been working on my schedule for next week.
Panoramic of my living room/dining room area.
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE: This was my “fully furnished” kitchen. Good thing I’m not much of a cook.
AFTER: The school bought me a new microwave and kettle because my kettle was molded and my microwave was rusted through and they said it could shock you or something.. I’m not sure, but I’m thankful for my new things and my little corner of snacks!
This is my laundry room. There’s no need for the before picture because it looks the exact same only it didn’t have my stuff in here. Thats my little washing machine.
Question: does anyone know how this thing catches lint like our dryers at home?? Because it does and I just don’t understand how it works…
Also, the other day I almost ruined clothes because I bought bleach instead of detergent because they looked the exact same and the labels are in Chinese.
This is my second little closet. It’s right off of the kitchen and it where I’ve been hanging my clothes to dry. I have this cool stick that I connect the hangers to so I can reach up high to hang them! It’s so handy!
Welp, there it is. My lovely new home. I hope this blog is helpful for other ESL teachers who are wondering what their provided housing may look like and maybe entertaining for my friends and family to see what my new home looks like.
I plan to post another blog this week about my classes, my 1,300 students, my adventures, and my new friends! Please don’t forget to chitchat for China and my many, many students! Have a blessed day!
#love2know #chitchatforchina
Embrace this place 