Welcome to My Apartment

I feel like I am on the International House Hunter Show on HGTV.  I looked at four apartments and then decided on this one.  Actually, it was the first one I looked at, and I knew it was the one I wanted. The landlords had another offer, but fortunately it fell through.  So here I am - just like in the show - showing you how it looks now.  It is a very bright and cheerful place.  I really haven't done much except add a few bright towels and some flowers and make the bed.  

As you can see, I have a great television set that is even connected to cable.  The only problem is there are no English channels.  I watched it while I was eating lunch today, and only heard one word I recognized.  I think it is going to take some time to learn Chinese.   

 

 

 

Here are a few more pictures of the front room. I have a terrific view of the complex next door. The large square building is a very fancy restaurant called Glory Road Restaurant. I am not sure where that came from.

 

Sitting at my computer desk. I think I will be spending a great deal of time here as I work on my blog or Skype with my family.

This corner looks like it has a shopping cart, a chair and some shoes.  It really has an invisible table and chairs for all of my company to join me for dinner.  I will worry about getting real furniture when I have people to invite over for dinner.  Actually, I have met some very nice people at the branch.  I have been invited to a different home every Sunday since arriving in Beijing.  The first Sunday I had dinner with Mary and Kyle Latimer.  She is the Relief Society president, and he is with the justice department at the U.S. embassy.  The second week Terry and Craig Davis invited me to come over after church.  He is a geologist with an oil company that has and office in Beijing.  Last Sunday I had a delightful afternoon with Rae and Rob Rancie.  They are here as humanitarian missionaries (help distribute school supplies, wheel chairs, etc.) and also teach English at the China Women's University.  Rob retired as a financial planner about 18 months ago, and three weeks later they were in China.  They have spent many hours studying Chinese, and have given me a little hope that I may be able to learn it too.

I have a very nice bathroom. The only problem is my hot water works sporadically.  That means I can start a shower with cold water, then it might get hot for a few minutes and then it goes cold again.  Fortunately - or unfortunately - it is so hot and muggy outside that a cold shower feels wonderful.  I have made arrangements with the landlord to get a new water heater this next week.  I will probably still take cold showers as long as the weather remains so hot.  By the time I finish my walk home, sweat is streaming down my face and my clothes are completely wet.  It reminds me of the day DeVon, Dianne and I climbed up to Robert Louis Stevenson's grave in Samoa.  The difference is there isn't a nice cool swimming pool to fall into like we had at Aggie Gray's Hotel.  I guess a cold shower is the next best thing.

These are pictures of my bedroom.  It is really quite nice.  I was afraid the bed would be too hard, but I really haven't had any problems with my back, and I get plenty of sleep.  Everything I see when I look south out the bedroom window is under construction.  I think they are preparing places for another couple of million people to stay.   (By the way, you should be impressed that I have figured out which way is south.  It isn't an easy task to know which direction I am going.  If you were to drop me down in another section of Beijing, I wouldn't have a clue about the direction.)

Last but not least is the kitchen.  I do have a refrigerator.  It is to the right of the stove top.  I haven't done much cooking since I arrived here.  Right now I eat oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast - I just can't give up that German training.  Besides finding oatmeal, I can buy peanut butter, jam and bread.  That is what I usually eat at lunch with a glass of milk.  For dinner I can get a good meal from the little market for about $1.50.  I don't always know what I am eating, but the price is right.  There also is a fruit market just down the block that has wonderful fruit - especially the watermelon.  I need to figure out a few different things to add to my menu, but as Scarlet O'Hare said, "There is always tomorrow."