Last October, I posted pictures of my amazingly tiny and sparsely furnished "dorm" room in BLCU. Sometimes, at night, it still haunts me: the small hard bed, the noisy heater, the PA system right outside my window that blasts Beijing Opera performances at 6pm. I still remember all my da bao (take out) dinners, my first cold, gray winter in China, sunsets at 4pm, 6-hour school days. It really was a nightmare.
But I guess I had to go through all that to prepare myself for the dream that is my new apartment. Haha. For days after securing my contract for the unit, I could not talk about anything else but moving into my new home and leaving behind that difficult life in the university.
On January 29th, a Saturday and two days before my final exams in BLCU, I dragged the first of my (plentiful) suitcases into Beijing Fortune Plaza - my address for the next couple of years. After that were days of labor, cleaning, furniture/knick-knack shopping and about a few thousand dollars down the drain.
I feel lucky to have found a place I can comfortably call home in Beijing. I love my new apartment and it relieves my homesickness because it somehow gives me a sense of security, and considering that I am living alone, that's really something. Now I have a sanctuary in Beijing and it makes the prospect of my 2-year expatriation less scary and more exciting.
My before and after pictures are now in http://chwistine.multiply.com -- does it look like the Fab 5 came over? Well let me say it proudly: the transformation is from my own blood, sweat and tears. I have lived here for a couple of months now and have welcomed some guests including my family. It may no longer look as perfect as in these pictures (there's the occassional mess here and there), but I still love it just the same!
Pictures are in the "My Beijing Home" album. Let me know what you think!
