The truth is, my apartment is very similar to apartments in the U.S., which made it even easier to adapt to living here for a longer period of time. I have a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. There is nothing particularly different about these rooms – if you look at them, you might think they are from an apartment in the U.S., not an apartment in China. There are only two minor differences that I can think of. The first is that I cannot drink water straight out of the tap. This is because the water pipes are rather old, so to make sure my water is clean and healthy for me to drink, I have to drink bottled water or boil my water first before drinking it. The other difference is that I have no dryer, so I have to dry all my clothes on the balcony. This means that I have to plan out when I wash my clothes, because it can take several days for them to dry. It was a little difficult to get used to at first, but now I am happy to dry my clothes on the balcony because it saves energy and is better for the environment.
Living in such a welcoming community and a comfortable apartment has been a lovely experience so far. Making friends with my neighbors and community members has made it a lot easier to live abroad, and I will be very sad to leave here in July.
