A Room at the Haastel

住宅 (juutaku) - Residence

I've been out here for roughly two months already and my parents keep bugging me for pictures, so here we go.

I'm living in a house with five other first year Haas MBA students. The MBAs who had been living here before it dubbed it the Haastel, a name which we have decided to keep. My room is the only one on the first floor and clearly used to be a dining room (hence the awesome chandelier).

I love how big it is. I love how it is full of windows that let in tons of light. I love that it has no closets, so I don't feel bad about having two clothes racks, two shoe racks, and a set of shelves to hold my clothes. I love that there is enough wall space to hang the bits of art I collected while travelling around Asia. I love how I can stash my bike in here. I love that it's the only bedroom on the first floor, which means that the bathroom down here is (usually) all mine.

I don't love how cold at gets at night (lots of windows means little insulation). I don't love that it's right next to the stairs that my five roommates tromp down. I don't love that it's right next to the front door, so you everyone come and go. I don't love that it is right next to the living room, so you can hear it whenever people watch TV. I don't love the huge rent bill.

I've filled the room with an assortment of Ikea furniture. It was my first time living in an unfurnished place, but I think I did a pretty good job with it. I'd like a better desk, but it doesn't fit my poor grad student budget. There's currently a black leather couch residing in here as we wait for our living room to get cleaned that I'd love to keep permanently, but such things will have to wait until I start getting paid again.

I wasn't sure what I thought of the space when I first moved in, but I've grown quite fond of it. It's starting to feel a little homey.