Some of you might be curious about
where we live here at Sias University; some of you may not be curious
(in this case, stop reading). All foreign faculty live in two large
buildings called Peter Hall. This place includes our apartments,
dining hall, cafe/lobby/meeting place, laundry room, conference room,
and much more. As you may guess, we spend a heck of a lot of time
here.
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| The ONLY place for American coffee within 50 miles |
It is a great place for the most part--
clean, modern, and spacious, especially considering our surroundings.
Let's begin the tour in our front lobby. This glass ceiling-ed place
connects the old Peter Hall with the new one. It is where we get our
mail, meet with students, celebrate holidays, and drink (American!)
coffee. We were really fortunate to come when we did because they
just finished construction in October, and it already feels like an
integral part of Peter Hall.
We often meet students for coffee in the Bridge Cafe or in one of the side meeting rooms (to pretend we are important and official) located
next to the lobby.
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| Our impressive front lobby |
In the old Peter Hall, we have our much
loved or much despised (depending on who you ask) dining hall. Here
we get three meals each day-- some Western foods: waffles, parmesan
chicken, and even Mexican are served on regular basis. We also get
lots of Chinese dishes and, of course, rice.
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| Our typical Monday buffet dinner of Chinese foods and a macaroni dish |
If you venture up to the 5
th
floor (elevators are for the weak), and go all the way down the hall,
you will find the best flat in the building-- ours! Our home has
definitely been a work in progress, but we feel very settled and at
home in our little one bedroom, one office, and one living room
apartment. We painted, moved furniture, and bought appliances,
pillows, and plants all this year to make our place feel more cosy.
Before pictures:
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| Our jaundice yellow, sparse living room/front room |
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| Our backroom that served as an office and laundry drying room (and sock art display) |
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| Our kitchen before the sprucing and my beloved toaster oven |
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| Our bedroom-- complete with a large, Chinese king sized bed |
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| Our bathroom-- no squatty, thankfully! |
The after pictures!
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| Our lovely front entry and office |
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| Ben spends a lot of his time at his desk! |
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| Our bright and blue living room! |
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| It also doubles as my office and our entertainment room! |
We love having our students and friends
over, and with our little hot plate and toaster oven, we've even
managed to turn out some pretty spectacular meals! Homemade pizza,
fajitas, and all different kinds of soups are only some of the things
we've made during our time here. Cooking in China is definitely a
challenge, but I enjoy hunting for available/substitutable
ingredients, figuring out temperamental stoves and ovens, and cooking
things like breads and chicken stock completely from
scratch.
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| Our microscopic, but functional kitchen/hallway |
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omelet with cheese and avocado, roasted potatoes, apples, kiwi, and
homemade muffin from Lucy! Plus hazelnut coffee and sriracha! |
Well, that about completes our grand
Peter Hall tour! Hope you enjoyed it, and if there is anything else
you are curious about life here, please let us know!
