I made the move

There have been some changes with me over here since the last time I made a post. In fact, I had to change the name of my blog from “Darren’s life in Beijing” to “Darren’s life in China.” That’s right, I don’t live in Beijing anymore. Just a few weeks ago I moved to a smaller town called Tianjin. Now, when I say smaller I don’t mean small. Not at all. It actually seems small compared to Beijing but it’s still about 12,000,000 people. It wasn’t my plan to move here but after months of looking for a job in Beijing and not being able to find a good one I decided to take a position here in Tianjin. It’s not so bad. I’m still getting used to it though. Despite being only 90 miles from Beijing (a short 27 minute train ride), the city seems very different. It’s interesting how there are so many differences depending on what part of China you are in. Anyways, Tianjin has an interesting history and had some European influences along the way. You can definitely see it in some of the architecture around town.

I have a new apartment. This one is a little bigger than my last one, has nicer furniture, and a more centralized location in the city. Oh, and it’s cheaper too! The new job is going pretty well so far. I’ll work at total of 6 weeks at my current location and then switch to a REALLY small one where I will be from then on. I worked one day there last week and I was the ONLY teacher in the whole center… just to give you an idea of just how small it is.

Anyways, I’ll post a few pictures of my apartment, the building I live in, and maybe a few from around town.