Where we live.

I thought I'd post a few pictures of where where we live in China.

We live on the 6th floor of an apartment building in the south end of the city. Sixth floor-no elevator. It's a small three bedroom apartment with lots of light.

Yes- that is someone hanging out of our windows washing them. No, not it is not me. This picture was taken in September before winter set in. Notice the beautiful blue skies!
Paul on our sofa that we had made. Basically, you go to the furniture market, find a sofa you like, bargain for a reasonable price, choose the fabric and have it made. Then they deliver it (for a negotiated price) and carry it up the six flights of stairs. If you don't have an elevator, you have to pay extra for the delivery!

Paul is not wearing his glasses in this picture because they were broken. Later he fixed them with superglue and he had to get new ones. Going to the optometrist is great language learning!

Sadly, he has picked up on the tendency to do the V for Victory sign when a picture is taken.
Elisabeth in one of the leather chairs that came with the apartment. We've told her that the orange slippers are a little like the ones they hand out in prisons.

The desk in Paul's office/man cave.

Traditional Chinese two burner gas stove. That bottle is the milk we buy. It comes like that or in a box.
Our kitchen that leads to our laundry balcony. No diswasher but we do have a coffee maker!
No built in stoves in China! Most foreigner's have counter top stoves. This can actually get a full sized cookie sheet in it. When you use it, you set the temperature (in Celsius) and the time that you want it on. It works pretty well.


Our backwards tub. Notice what is hanging over the drain-our towels. When we moved into the apartment, we negotiated to have a tub put in. The bathroom had a traditional Chinese shower-no tub or shower enclosure around the shower head. coming out of the wall. You basically stand on the floor and the water drains into the drain. The floor stays wet all day.

So we asked them to put a tub in. When we moved in, I looked at the tub-the drain is at the opposite end of the tube than the faucets and shower head! Apparently this is pretty common and has to do with the drainage system. It's not super efficient but it does work. And it's much better than showering standing on the floor.

Most important-our slipper collection that we have to offer guests. No shoes are ever worn in Chinese homes. We have a growing collection of slippers that we have for when people come over.

Hope that gives you a picture of where we are living.