Dorm Sweet Dorm

Hmm . . . I was debating whether to put these pictures up or not. While our apartment, admittedly, is a bit institutional, it is nowhere near as sad feeling as it seems in these images. But I am too lazy to take another set . . . so here is the unveiling:

Our lovely living room/dining room/kitchen:

Our coffee table is our everything. Dining, grading, computing, etc . . . it all happens here.

I had to include Whale, he holds our 1 yuan coins (and the worthless jiao) until we are ready to spend them. He is good to us.

Yes, our refrigerator is really that small . . . good thing I have no intentions of cooking : )

Unfortunately, our book collection is really that small, too. Oh the pain . . . (By the way, just finished Unaccustomed Earth By Jhumpa Lahiri--solid--not as good as Interpreter of Maladies, but it was worth my time)

Those two chairs and a little round table (like 1.5 ft circumference) were all we had in the living room when we moving in. It was not fun.

Denis is being a good kid, doing his work. I, on the other hand, am taking pictures . . . some of you might recognize House of the Scorpion on the table . . . that is what I should have been doing instead.
Our bathroom is crazy long--the length of the entire apartment. It is kind of good (as well as a bit weird, but hey, at least it doesn't contain a squat pot).

Our bedroom is huge, too. When we first moved in we only had one of everything--including towels and pillows . . . it was a bit rough. They (about one and a half weeks in) gave us and two other couples another apartment . . . in another building. Someone had been using ours, it reeked of smoke and was hideously dirty, but we were able to get a second wardrobe out of it (no closets in China) . . . unfortunately, our second apartment was soon commandeered by that building's supervisor. No second apartment for Nicole and Denis : (


And this is the bed we got at Ikea. I LOVE IT. It is so wonderfully comfortable. The one that came with the apartment was a full sized bed and it was basically two box-springs on top of each other--there was NO give to that thing. After spending one night on it, we were desperate to get to Ikea and do something about the situation. We also picked up a second night stand and some fun lamps. I am dealing with the mismatched furniture. It pains me at times, but I can't bear to imagine the alternative : )

Welcome to our home . . . like I said, it isn't as ugly as it looks. Really.