It has been two weeks now that Jonathan and I have been in Ningbo and we are finally beginning to get settled in. At least, I am finally getting settled in. Jon was less overwhelmed than I was, so he settled in faster than I did. For me, there was just a lot to get used to between getting used to living in Ningbo and learning how to best teach toddlers and young kids. Thankfully, I am becoming acclimated to both now and am becoming quite anxious to begin exploring Ningbo.
We found our apartment the day after we arrived in Ningbo, thanks to the school's HR representative. While it is smaller than expected (I was unaware that the HR representative thought that a studio apartment was a one bedroom apartment), I am happy with it now that it is clean. I was shocked with how dirty the apartment was, but I learned that apartments are not typically cleaned before you move in here. Not something that I am use to, but the apartment is clean now and my only worry now is how to best arrange the furniture in the main room. It has too much furniture for its size, but Jon and I are unsure of how to get rid of furniture we don't want, so for now we will just deal.
Once I finally have it set up the way I like, I will post an actual picture. For now though, that is our incredibly hard and uncomfortable bed. Before we added the pads, you could actually hear a thud when something was thrown down on it. Once we are paid for the first time, Jon and I plan on adding more padding since it is still pretty uncomfortable.... for now though, it is manageable!
The kitchen was another disappointment, but not only is it clean now, it kind of makes me happy. It may not have a stove, but I like my hot plate and rice cooker. The hot plate cooks food quite fast and the rice cooker not only makes perfect rice, but it has other uses. For example, you can make soup in it, steam your vegetables, and re-heat food in it. Quite remarkable actually.
I am probably also happy with our kitchen because I am starting to acquire food that I normally cook with to put in it. I have been unable to find some food, such as couscous or turmeric, but since finding an international supermarket that is not Wal-Mart, I was able to find most of the food and spices that I use. Once I am able to explore more, I am hopeful that I will even be able to find my missing foods as well. Ningbo has both Mediterranean and Indian restaurants though, so I am pretty certain that these foods are available somewhere in this very large city. In spite of this, I am excited to try Chinese food as well; it's just harder to order since I do not know enough Chinese to tell them what I want yet... I am looking up Chinese dishes though and will try them! Tonight I am making a mung bean dish. While I am not sure what a mung bean is, they seem pretty popular here, so it should be interesting.
My favorite part of our apartment, and I liked this from day one, is the location. We are located in the Yinzhou district of Ningbo and it is very accessible to both of our job locations and the rest of the city. This district was originally a county called Yin County. In 2002, it was renamed Yinzhou district, but it is one of the few counties to have kept the same name since its establishment in 220 B.C. Based on my research, it appears as if though this district is huge. Therefore, I am not sure if there are two Yinzhou districts or if we happen to live at the very edge of the district. Either way, this area has a lot going on and it is relatively new with a lot of shopping areas including a Wal-Mart.
The view from our room
While there is a lot that I could talk about, I don't want to ramble. Therefore, I will keep this post about our apartment. I will try to update the blog more frequently now that I am settled... If there is anything in particular that anyone would like to hear about, let me know and I will write a post on it!
The Seven Temples -- view from the Sheraton
We found our apartment the day after we arrived in Ningbo, thanks to the school's HR representative. While it is smaller than expected (I was unaware that the HR representative thought that a studio apartment was a one bedroom apartment), I am happy with it now that it is clean. I was shocked with how dirty the apartment was, but I learned that apartments are not typically cleaned before you move in here. Not something that I am use to, but the apartment is clean now and my only worry now is how to best arrange the furniture in the main room. It has too much furniture for its size, but Jon and I are unsure of how to get rid of furniture we don't want, so for now we will just deal.
Once I finally have it set up the way I like, I will post an actual picture. For now though, that is our incredibly hard and uncomfortable bed. Before we added the pads, you could actually hear a thud when something was thrown down on it. Once we are paid for the first time, Jon and I plan on adding more padding since it is still pretty uncomfortable.... for now though, it is manageable!
The kitchen was another disappointment, but not only is it clean now, it kind of makes me happy. It may not have a stove, but I like my hot plate and rice cooker. The hot plate cooks food quite fast and the rice cooker not only makes perfect rice, but it has other uses. For example, you can make soup in it, steam your vegetables, and re-heat food in it. Quite remarkable actually.
I am probably also happy with our kitchen because I am starting to acquire food that I normally cook with to put in it. I have been unable to find some food, such as couscous or turmeric, but since finding an international supermarket that is not Wal-Mart, I was able to find most of the food and spices that I use. Once I am able to explore more, I am hopeful that I will even be able to find my missing foods as well. Ningbo has both Mediterranean and Indian restaurants though, so I am pretty certain that these foods are available somewhere in this very large city. In spite of this, I am excited to try Chinese food as well; it's just harder to order since I do not know enough Chinese to tell them what I want yet... I am looking up Chinese dishes though and will try them! Tonight I am making a mung bean dish. While I am not sure what a mung bean is, they seem pretty popular here, so it should be interesting.
My favorite part of our apartment, and I liked this from day one, is the location. We are located in the Yinzhou district of Ningbo and it is very accessible to both of our job locations and the rest of the city. This district was originally a county called Yin County. In 2002, it was renamed Yinzhou district, but it is one of the few counties to have kept the same name since its establishment in 220 B.C. Based on my research, it appears as if though this district is huge. Therefore, I am not sure if there are two Yinzhou districts or if we happen to live at the very edge of the district. Either way, this area has a lot going on and it is relatively new with a lot of shopping areas including a Wal-Mart.
While there is a lot that I could talk about, I don't want to ramble. Therefore, I will keep this post about our apartment. I will try to update the blog more frequently now that I am settled... If there is anything in particular that anyone would like to hear about, let me know and I will write a post on it!
Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI once lived in a house with no stove. For a year I used nothing but electric countertop appliances. I didn't even have a microwave.
Keep the posts coming!
I am glad to hear that it is possible to live without a stove! Electronic appliances are definitely a lifesaver though :)
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