househunters international

(allan and i on a plane in seattle about to take off on our loooong flight to shanghai, en route to nanjing)

back in april, we took a week-long trip to china to do some house-hunting (maybe more like neighborhood-hunting since it was a bit early yet to officially rent anything).  our trip didn't start out on the best foot.  as soon as we got to our hotel really late at night, i felt really, really nauseated and immediately had to use the facilities.  it was not good.  it turned out i caught some kind of stomach bug just before i left the tri-cities (my sister and kids all had similar problems, though not as severe) and i ended up holed up in my hotel room for almost two days.  not fun.  i got really discouraged as i laid in bed alone in our room, thinking of my family and friends back in the u.s.,  and looking out at the polluted, gray sky.  i thought, "wow, i don't think i want to move here.  nope, don't want to.  nope, won't."  it was really hard and probably one of the most emotionally down moments i've experienced.  but, as the week passed, God gave me my energy back and encouraged me through a great group of friends.  He is so good.  i was able to join back up with allan and we pushed forward with our house-hunting plans!

our sweet friends (s&j) helped us arrange realtors to take us looking in two different parts of the city.  we didn't have an idea about where we want to live, except that we knew we want to be close to a subway station and, if possible, close to our friends (s&j).  all in all, we saw 9 apartments.  some were really suitable, but a few were not.  luckily, we still have some time left before we move so we are praying that God would make one available that will suit our family.  on our first day, two friends from the tri-cities came along and narrated our day as if we were on househunters international...we loved it and appreciated their help and encouragement!

day one of apartment hunting, here we go...

apartment #1:  really nice, but far from subway

large master bedroom with big closet.  bedrooms in china don't usually have a closet.  they use wardrobes instead, so having a closet is a plus.

very nice-sized kitchen

bathroom sink (out in the open, not joined with toilet and shower)

enclosed balcony with washing machine

apartment #2:  ideal, but way over budget

HUGE master bedroom

awesome enclosed balcony off of master

huge wrap-around balcony that extends through one whole side of the apartment.  thought we could use it for homeschooling.

at the end of the wrap-around balcony

walking into the living room from the above picture

dining room (across from living room)

super nice kitchen (across from dining room)

apartment #3: small and eclectic

dining room right off of the entry.  the seating is the actual floor of the apartment (the table is raised). the kitchen is in the back so you have to walk over the seating to get to the kitchen. a bit eclectic, right?

here's the kitchen at the back of the dining room.  it's tiny.

the whole apartment had these paneled walls.  some of the panels were actually doors that opened up and led to bedrooms and the bathroom (shown here).  we thought the kids would have loved the idea of secret passage ways, but we thought they were a bit weird.

here's the enclosed balcony off of the master with a "rock walk."  kinda interesting.

that concludes day 1.  i'll try and post some pics from day 2 later.  we saw 6 apartments the second day and were completely exhausted by the end of it.