Final Home Choice

I recognize that with the career Dave has chosen, I may not be able to choose my own home for many, many years. At foreign posts, housing is assigned based on each family's answers to a questionnaire. Gotta love the government - especially as we are asking it to run every single aspect of our lives.

So I particularly relish our new home. We moved in on Thursday, and still have boxes piled around the house and no internet connection. We've got a rather seedy looking internet cafe across the way, with a man rather grossly masticating to my right. We make do.

The walls were spot painted only, but they look fine.
The water runs hot, the mosquitos swarm the garden in amazing clouds, and the roaches on the sidewalks look like they escaped from the zoo. But I have seen nothing larger than a fly indoors, and our rooftop terrace is amazing. The details in this house are absolutely lovely, and we have it fully furnished and feeling quite cozy.

As a lane house, we are surrounded by Chinese families living in old homes. Many of our neighbors have their kitchens across the lane from the rest of the house, and a crowd often gathers late into the night playing mahjong on the stoop across the garden. Its quiet and people all smile at us. Its lovely.

The former French Concession has slow-moving streets with wide sidewalks, plenty of old plane trees providing full-shade and protection from the rain. We can walk to loads of good restaurants - many of the best in town. Loads of boutique shops are in our neighborhood, and I'm loving the 3 minute commute to school every morning.

As a consequence of this shortened commute, we had to let our driver go. The worst news of our move, and even this has serious upshot - we save over $1,000 per month. Our sweet driver has calmly negotiated the travails of Shanghai traffic for us over the past 6 months, and we have enjoyed his company as well as his expertise. Last night, he sent a lovely message. The internet translation may be the most touching part:

I want to say:you are very honored to service,that is too short.If you are in shanghai,although there is a need I say,I am very willing!Finally Thank you very much they help me to find another job.

I will miss his company and his help, but I am happy that he starts his new position tomorrow.

We have found places for all of our things, and already enjoyed the terrace over many evenings. We have a great room encompassing the kitchen, dining room and living room. We ate dinner at the kitchen table tonight, the first home-cooked meal in the house. And how lovely, to enjoy the family and the music while I cooked. Plus, family clean-up was a breeze!

After all of my worries, I have no complaints about this home. And knowing that its the last time I will choose my own home, I am loving it for as long as we are here.