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Our apartment in Kunming, China (2) |
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It is difficult to get good
photos of the inside of an apartment, but I've pasted a few photos
together to try to give you some idea of where we live.
The living room is huge, and
we figure we can get over 20 students around our new TV (including a few
behind this rail in the raised dining area--shown below). The main door is
just to the right of this photo, the kitchen is behind you, and the small
hallway (shown) is to the left. Standing in the hall doorway, you are in
the master bedroom, looking at Andrew's room. The main bathroom is to the
right, to the left you turn into the dining room, the door to the right
(next to Andrew's room) is the laundry room, and opposite the laundry room
is my office. |
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This apartment is the newest, biggest, nicest and cheapest
home we have had in China. If that last word doesn't seem to fit, think of
this: every time we have moved in this country, Michael has taken a big
pay cut. Shanghai is very expensive by Chinese standards, but we had a
nice place of around 90 sq m. In Xi'an, Michael's pay was lower and our 97
sq m apartment was cheaper. Our Kunming apartment is around 110 sq m
(maybe more) and is in a new complex; and Michael's pay is considerably
lower than it was in Xi'an! If we keep moving, maybe we'll end up with a
huge apartment and no income at all.
☺
There are some outdoor
photos on the KM_apt page, and you can click here
to see the small campus dorm
room we had moved from. (Click here for a map to our apartment.)
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Master Bedroom
and Vivian's home office |
Andrew's Bedroom
(note his alcove with a nice courtyard view) |
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This is the
nicest kitchen we've had in China, too. However, whoever designed the
kitchen forgot to include a place for the refrigerator. The landlord
suggested putting it in the dining room, but we opted to put it (with the
water dispenser) in the balcony (which is next to the kitchen window).
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That made them
wonder where we would put the washing machine which belongs on the
balcony--well, we disconnected the shower beside the "Chinese" toilet and
put it there. We only use the squat toilet in emergency situations. |
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The "western"
bathroom is just inside the door to the master bedroom. When we arrived,
the shower water just splashed everywhere, so we added a glass stall.
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Michael's study
is about the size of an American closet (this is four photos, stuck
together!). But it was easy to heat in the winter, and we added lots of
bookcases, a fast Internet connection and a nice wooden desk to make it
comfortable. Michael certainly does not have a green thumb. He has already
managed to kill all of the plants shown in his window, but we are looking
for more. The refrigerator balcony is outside his window. |
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When we moved in (October
2005) there weren't many other tenants. For six
months we asked for an electric bill, but the complex management just kept
saying, "Sorry, we don't know how to bill you yet."
Every weekend (and
throughout the day, every day) LOTS of people were drilling, banging and
sawing to prepare their own apartments. Most of that stopped after Chinese
New Year (Feb. 2006) as more people moved in. In spite of being surrounded
by the city, it is a very quiet place to live or entertain.
Click here
for a few photos of our Christmas activities with students. Other links:
Outdoor
apartment views a map to our apartment |
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