During the Christmas season, I decided to show Christmas to all of my neighbors. I put up Christmas lights in two windows that face a 15 story apartment building. This picture and the next show the lights I put up. I have found that I really like putting up Christmas lights.

After I took them down, I put them up inside my apartment which adds some nice non-flourescent light to my place. It makes it a lot nicer to read to.

When you walk in, first, you will notice the couch. It is very nice to have a place to lie down other than my bed. I was quite excited when I first saw it. It's good for watching all the Chinese TV stations. Well, there are two English ones also.

Looking back to where you just walked in from reveals my working desk and kitchen (part of it). This is mainly where I put these web page together and come up with lessons for the students, although sometimes, I take my computer to the park and work there. It's very relaxing. There isn't really a kitchen in here, just appliances scattered about.

Here is where I spend about 8-9 hours a day, depending on how much sleep I get and how long I read before I go to sleep. This is also where I set up my drying rack to dry clothes. Last week, I got spooked in the middle of the night because there was a wet pair of pants attacking me. (They fell off the line.)

Here is a second desk, although this one is made for a little person, maybe about 4 feet tall, so I only use it as a place to set stuff.

And now, the most interesting part of this whole place, the bathroom/laundryroom/kitchen. The Chinese are very efficient with space. The toilet and shower are right next to each other. Next to that is the washing machine (which I am very glad to have) and the sink. The toilet also doubles as a garbage disposal since the sink has a small drain.

Here is a closer view of the toilet/shower area. This is actually convenient and I will probably miss it when I return to America. It is so much easier to clean your toilet this way. Every couple days, just spray it down and voila, it's clean. The only drawback is that I now understand why women complain about not putting the seat up. Everyday, the seat is completely covered in water.

The couch I so enjoyed is left behind, only a memory now. I remember taking many naps on it. It wasn't quite tall enough for me, but it was very comfortable. I like it much better than the solid wooden one I have now.

Not much left of it now.

I can't say I'll miss this one too much. I never did like the layout of it very much. The shower over the toilet so you couldn't quite stand and couldn't quite sit down. Didn't matter though because the shower head was only up to my shoulder.

Ahh, my new place. It is very nice, comparatively. I really like it. My contact teacher told me it is about 3 times bigger than my other place. Very nice. I actually don't know what to do with all the space. I basically have an extra bedroom that I don't know what to do with.

It is really nice to have a dining room table. This place even has a kitchen, so I will finally be able to learn how to cook Chinese food. Well, I have actually started to at a Chinese friends place, but now I can much more often. (I might even buy a little bag of MSG, which is in a lot of Chinese food.)

I like my other living room better. But, I can't complain because pretty much my other place consisted of a bedroom and a living room. This place is much nicer overall.

My bedroom is about the same as my other place.

Oh, did I mention that this is on the 20th floor of a 30 floor apartment complex. This is the view out of my balcony. Yes, it even has a balcony. It is really nice. Everyone looks so small walking down on the streets below.