I was admittedly a bit dubious when we pulled up to the building; it looked like a dorm building. I thought I was getting an apartment. As it turns out, the apartments for the foreign teachers are in fact on the first floor of the girls’ dorm building. Not that that bothered me; everything seemed rather quiet… at 6:00 in the morning.
Full of anticipation and somewhat excited, I let Sam lead me to apartment 4108, my new home. He was chattering all the while, commenting on how young I looked and the like. Quite complimentary is Young Sam; I felt anything but young after traveling for 36 hours. Matter of fact, I was feeling decidedly used up, wrung out, in need of a shower and some fresh clothes and some sleep! I was looking forward to a quick tour of my new digs, a shower and a long nap.
At first glance, the apartment was quite charming. Laminate floors in the living room and bedroom, and both rooms of generous size: 12’ ceilings lending the illusion of extra space, but even so plenty of floor space and sparsely but adequately furnished. An air conditioner stood silently by in each room, ready to afford me comfortable temperature. A queen-sized bed with dual nightstands and a wardrobe in the ‘bedroom area’; two desks and a book case in the office area. Two lamps completed the décor: one at the desk, and the other by the bed. There were brand-new linens piled on the bed, and a thick winter quilt waiting to keep me warm in the closet.
The only drawback in the living room was the world’s most hideous couch: a low-slung affair made up of white faux snakeskin with a tan cushion to sit on and two leopard print pillows for reclining; wooden accents formed the legs. All other furniture was not a decorator’s nightmare: a television stand with TV and DVD player, two more book cases, a small dinette set and a miscellaneous cabinet. I already had plans for how I would arrange the furniture, and for all my things.
My things! My two foot lockers had arrived, and had been carted to my apartment! How I wanted to tear into them right then and there, and reacquaint myself with the few things I packed for myself! It would be just like Christmas, and what a perfect way to welcome myself home! But Sam was still here, showing off the virtues of the apartment. I had to wait a little longer for that Christmas morning feeling.
The kitchen was next. Brand new dishes and chopsticks, still in the package. A serviceable wok, a single, electronic hotplate with directions in Chinese, and electric rice cooker. A washer with cycle selections in Chinese and dryer with cycle selections in English, a microwave with symbols and pictures for directions, and a bottled water dispenser, sans bottled water. Blue cabinet doors. Granite counter tops! How thrilled I was! Now, if only I could get them set at higher than mid-thigh. There would clearly be a lot of stooping while cooking; luckily I had my back fixed before I left the States. I silently thanked my wonderful acupuncturist; I was going to be testing out her efforts in short order, I sensed. All of this AND an attractive tile floor. How lucky could a girl get?
The bathroom floor is also tiled, with a granite vanity. Very attractive! An added bonus: a full-sized bathtub with adjustable height shower: not a bad coup for a tall girl like me. My own water heater – very important in China; you do not want to be at the mercy of the community boiler, or worse, a solar-powered water heating unit mounted on the roof. They’re not bad in the summer, but they function miserably in the winter!
The guided tour finished, Sam declared he would leave me alone to get some rest. He took his leave after giving me my key and inviting me to dinner after I’ve rested. Rest? I had things to do! Finally alone, I took off my now hurtful shoes and prowled my new digs: each room had a window, each window was coated so that no one could look in and also had a screen. Each window apparently allowed its share of dirt to be blown in… but I didn’t make that connection immediately.
After just a few steps barefooted, I could feel the dirt and grit on the soles of my feet. I dug into my suitcase for a pair of slippers, thinking that the floors probably would be dusty if no one had occupied the apartment for a month or so. But looking beyond the initial charm of the apartment I found it… absolutely filthy!
Cobwebs hanging from the ceiling! Dust Great Danes prowled the floor and growled at my intrusion! They really could not have been called dust bunnies or even dust kitties, they had surpassed that stage of growth and gone smack into pony-size. The tub had a ring around it, and not the nice kind, either! And the kitchen! Oh, my Stars! The accumulated grease in the kitchen! How could any kitchen be that greasy! I dared touch one of the cabinet handles and it was greasy; while I was at it I opened the cabinet and found the shelves inside brown with dirt and grease. The vent hood alone was going to take me days to clean; you couldn’t even see the filter mesh pattern for all of the caked-on grease!
That’s it; I’m too tired to take all of this in. I need a shower and a bed. “Oh, NO!” I moaned! ‘The bed!” The mattress was gray with dirt in the seams and its corners. “No big deal” I thought, “I’ll just turn it over” I should not have had that thought; the other side was in even worse shape. A wordless moan escaped me, and I resolved to do something about it soon… but not right now, I had other business to take care of.
I had to ‘touch my peeps’ – get in touch with everyone and let them know I was safe. Many of my friends did not anticipate this journey taking days and surely they were worried about me. As my hiring-in prospectus promised, there was a computer with a DSL modem just waiting for me, but I wanted my faithful laptop. I installed it on one of the desks, made the connection and prepared to log in and send a blanket email, letting everyone know I was OK.
And that’s where I’ll leave this one; again a super long post, but necessary in its length… unless you don’t think so? I’m open to feedback; just let me know.
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