Living...

I have been bouncing from here to there for the last month. I first met my sponsor and got all set up in the town where I will be based until January. I of course secured the cheapest accommodations I could find and then found out later that it was so cheap partly because there was no bed, desk, dresser... nothing. Well, I made due for a couple of days and then some gracious friends of a friend donated a mattress and a water dispenser for me to use. Here's the pictures of my "pad"...

And then the "fully furnished" version...


It wasn't long, however, before I would be moving to the capital city for a month to get my English certification. I was able to find a reasonable situation right downtown, a ten minute walk from where I would be doing my classes and teaching. The standard of living is much higher here so I was forced to live in an already furnished room. Even so, the owners (a delightful Chinese couple) almost rejected me upon requesting to move in as they related, "You don't want to stay here, foreigners need their own bathroom and AC" (rough translation). I finally convinced them that their place was exactly what I was looking for and now we have a pretty good relationship. Here's some pictures...

And the view from the roof...


So what do my two places have in common? Awesome bed sheets..