My apartment in China

I love my apartment in China. It’s so fancy and it’s not super small. I have a laundry room, separated by a sliding glass door and curtains to the living space. Curtains because you can see into my apartment from the elevator. In there I have a washing machine and a drying bar. In China, usually there are no dryers, so yes, lint and maybe wrinkly clothes, unless you have some kind of steam wrinkle remover. So EVERYONE hangs up their clothes to dry and in China, often on the balcony. All over the city, there is laundry on the balcony. I kind of love it, there is such a simplicity and just we’re all in this together kind of charm. Then I have a shoe rack, and my floors are marble, maybe, then I have a glass top table, a sectional and glass top coffee table and TV unit. I have a TV on the wall that plays Chinese shows in Chinese, so I have a special box that lets me watch limited channels and TV in English. I have a balcony, which I love and a water spigot out there and I have grown a collection of plants, which I love. Then I have a bathroom with only a shower and the shower head is removable, spray around. In China, most people put their toilet paper in the waste basket next to the toilet. I mostly do not. We can take out the trash between 7-9 a.m. or p.m. This is because there is a person who sorts and collects the trash and this is a weird system I don’t understand and I don’t even want to comment on it. But on the way to the teacher school bus is trash time, and I have an evening timer that it’s trash time. I talk to the door man and women and always say hello. I have a bedroom with a bigger bed, but I don’t know the size and then a second bedroom with a bed that is bigger than a twin but not as big as the main bed. Mattresses in China are just spring and so hard, so for both beds I got an extra mattress. On my main bed the mattress is luxurious and I love it. I finally got 2 of my quilts in my luggage so it’s just like home and I put my Guatemala quilt up on the wall. I made my second bedroom my son Liel’s room and put all of his things in there. Even if he never comes it is his room, and my guest bedroom. Then I have my kitchen which I think is called galley. I have a window with windows that open, push out. The counters are lower, but i have got used to this. I have a small sink with two bays, but they don’t fit the dish drainer so I keep it on the counter. We can shower with our water from the faucet, use it for cooking but it isn’t reccommended we use it for drinking straight, so I get a big water jug delivered, and I have a electric push button spout on there. I have a small fridge but it’s not a mini fridge. I have a gas cooktop and a dish sanitizer and microwave. I like it, and a door that closes to the main apartment. I was able to get a table and chair from the surplus pile in my building and asking if I could have it. So I like to sit out. Then in China, they love lights on buildings. So out of my balcony, in the building next to mine and in the distance are lit buildings. The lights get turned off about 9 p.m. or so, and I found that I have got used to the street noise in my apartment. I like where I live. Under my building is the grocery store and the subway station. So convenient. And the Clifford Wonderland Plaza with hundreds of stops. The subway station is called Shiguanglu and the locals call Clifford Qifu, but Qifu as 200,000 people.