My apartment

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I have made it safely! I am glad not to have to make the trip again for ten months. I knew I would not have to reset my watch because Beijing is exactly twelve hours ahead so the whole trip I could look at my watch and say hey its 10 o’clock at home and in China. I decided to just eat when my body was hungry which ended up being midnight sc time and 8 LA time. Once on the plane I was so tired I promptly feel into a deep deep sleep. Only to be woken up by the stewardess serving me dinner! I could have sworn it was two in the morning and I was in my bed not dinnertime. That is the weirdest feeling in the world.

Flying is really not bad. The people who work at airports are the nicest people you will ever meet. I had no problems going through customs. In LA while checking my bag the guy asked if was running away from home which I thought was funny.

I think that different things in life have prepared me for where I am living now.
1. No air conditioning. The bungalow while air conditioned never got completely cool. The temperature and condition is the same.
2. The shower is not enclosed everything in the bathroom gets wet and the drain does not work well. The bungalow shower is anything but perfect the showerhead forces you to stand really close to the wall. I have discovered that if I do the same thing here in China the bathroom stays dry and drains better.
3. Pollution. There is a fine film of black dust on everything. I was not alarmed however because I worked a year for Mrs. Arnold dusting off the same grime every morning from her gazeboes I knew exactly what it was and the best way to clean it.
I love my little apartment. It’s the perfect size for me a litter bigger than the bungalow and not to big that I lose things and have to continually clean everything.

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Photos

bathroom
I am learning to appreciate the western style of keeping water in an enclosed area.

kitchen
My cute little stove sits on a sort of windowed porch. I cook dumplings and rice wrapped in leaves its really good.

bedroom
you can see the edge of my bed. in the right hand corner. The windowed porch the stove sits on must have been recently added because they are the old windows that open onto the kitchen.

living room
I am not sure how i could have made these pictures better Tried standing on things pushing myself into far corners. I had to laugh at what Mr. Price would say about how to light rooms and make them appear bigger and more attractive. this is looking into where my sink and refrigerator are and then onto the window porch.

Comments

[Tara]

It's so cool to see where you're living! That bathroom is something else! I love your little place, it's perfect - you are living such an adventure right now - I'm soo excited for you. Keep posting, it makes you seem not so far away.

[Catherine]

Oh My Gosh!! I can't believe that you're actually there! Your apartment is really cute - I think the two of you have a lot in common... So how long do we have to wait to see the rest of China?

[Mom and Dsd]

8/30
Things look great! You must have the largest apartment in Beijeng. We are very excited for you.

[Linda]

Better Homes & Gardens it is!
Yeah, it looks familiar. Our bathroom was pretty big, so most of it stayed dry. I got a squeegee (like a window scraper) to dry the floor after every shower--worked pretty well.

[alden]

Hello adventurous sister, i am jelouse, you are living your dreams and doing it in style. The place is "off the chain", (new lingo i learned in school, just kidding) small but JUST right for you. i send my love.

[Alaina]

Your apartment...
Well, I finally got to see your place. We always talked about it last year, but it just didn't happen. Now I know what it was like. :)