Good-bye to the old, hello to the new!

Topic of the day: How Sheila has been spending her time!

 

So lots of things have happened since my last update on my humble little blog for all of my two faithful readers!

 

This past Tuesday, I finished my 3 months long internship with General Motors.  Three months has flown by, and it was a good experience on my side.  That said, I will start my new gig tomorrow (Monday morning) at H&K.  I'm looking forward to the new job at a new company! 

 

I have been preoccupied the past five days since the end of my internship with one thing: moving!  After months of anticipation, I am finally moving into my own flat, all the way on the other side of town in Chaoyang District!  It's a second hand two bedroom apartment in a great location in town - right by Chaoyang Park west gate.  That means I can cross the street to a little strip of good restaurants, nice bars, and a Jenny Lou's (international supermarket that has the best cheese selection I've ever seen in Beijng).  And to be honest, although I was not a huge fan of my apartment complex when I first saw it (it's a rather kitch looking complex), it is growing on me.  Besides the great location, the complex also have a large expat population.  Apparently, back when Beijing required foreign expats to live in designated complexes, this was one of them.  Today, the population of my little neighborhood remains at about 60% foreigners.  This also means that my cable TV (provided by apartment management) have Russian, Korean, Japanese, German, and French channels.  And, of course, CNN.

 

Decorating and furnishing the apartment was another challenge.  I've never been responsible for furnishing such a large endeavor before, and it did prove to be quite stressful.  Ikea in Beijing is hell on weekends.  And although I still do not approve of my apartment's color palate (disclaimer: I did not partake in choosing the green walls or the pink curtains) and although the flat is still a bit bare, it's starting to feel a bit homier.  I think my Tibetan prayer flags does the trick.  :)