finally got my little space furnished and set up, so i took some pictures! sorry for the crappy quality again. i actually managed to go out with my camera today so i’ll have the pretty ones up soon. :)

here’s the kitchen! i haven’t cooked anything yet.

living room and bathroom. we have our own washing machine, which is extremely convenient!

my room! cozy. and i adore the view. i leave the curtains open at night (of course, this makes for quite an early awakening :P)

and the last few days, in a nutshell:

• had my first couple days of work! i didn’t do much, just got acquainted with the place. pretty excited for the opening of the new kindergarten, it’s going to be so cute. for now i’m working on the website (what’s new in life…) and writing out the teacher’s guide to the curriculum.

• my bike lock broke (expected this to happen since the lock cost $1) so i was bike-less for a couple days. walking a mile to the subway station is such a drag that i sort of splurged on a taxi a couple times (oh, the shame).

• ripped my jeans while riding my bike a few days ago so i went to the store to get new ones, and i kid you not, i have dropped 2 pant sizes since i got here. probably the combination of biking/walking everywhere, being sick, and general laziness about eating… it requires a lot of walking or biking to get to dinner hehe

• meeting people is interesting. i think being alone all the time leads to the most interesting interactions. i’ve exchanged numbers with people as random as the person sitting next to me at mcdonald’s to a girl who dropped by my apt to pick up her friend’s luggage.  it’s fun :) and most of them are european! which, you know, gives me the excuse to visit europe… :D

• one of my favorite (albeit quite non-kosher) things in this city are BOOK CARTS. these ladies ride these bicycles around avoiding the police and if you find them, you can buy $1-2 (pirated) paperback books… all new bestseller stuff. i’ve been picking up quite a collection of the books i’d wanted to read all year but didn’t have the money to buy.

• did i mention english people are adorable? especially when they’re all affectionate and then realize you’re american and then apologize for being english.

okay that’s it i’m exhausted. i spent today in nanluoguxiang again with michelle, audrey, jason and suwen, and got some cool shots so i’ll post those tomorrow. :)