Renting for Freedom

Since Eather is in education “outside the system,” Anran will likely do the same. Even if they attend public elementary school, owning a house isn’t really tied to education (of course, this also depends on whether parents care about brand-name schools and keeping up with others).

Shanghai’s housing prices are skyrocketing. With my current means, unless a windfall comes my way, buying a house in my lifetime is unlikely. Since education isn’t dictated by owning a house, what’s the big difference between renting and owning? Renting might be inconvenient—you have to move every two or three years. Other than that, I can’t see any real difference.

Thinking about not having to buy a house in Shanghai makes me feel free.

A house isn’t a home; a place with family and love is what makes it one.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16, NIV)