My Apartment

When I first walked into my apartment I was greeted by four cleaning ladies busy at work. My landlord was supervising them as they were perfecting the job they had just done. My landlord is a funny little woman that talks a mile a minute, as if I understand everything she says. Language barrier aside, she seems a bit cookie, but I know she means well. My second meeting with her was to fix my cable/internet. She kept patting on my bed to get me to sit down as she kept talking and running around my place. As you can see from the pictures, it’s not very big so it’s not hard to imagine how much you could feel the energy radiating from her body. I find it hard to tell how old Asians are, but I can say with confidence that she’s old. Her son was the one doing the fixing, and I think he was in his mid 40’s. In the mists of my landlord talking, she stopped and to look at me, laughed, and then gave me a hug. She probably said “Dear, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about”... she was definitely right about that one.  

My apartment is a lot newer and bigger than I first pictured it to be. As soon as you walk in, there’s a little area to put your shoes, then a small step up into the main area. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my bed is a double. It’s still as hard as a rock, but it works. I have an armoire, two other storage units, a desk, and a dining table. As you can see in the picture, I’m using my dining table to prop up my mirror – A girls got her priorities. Both the dining table and desk are used without a chair. This is the same at some restaurants too. My back was killing me my first week cause even when there are chairs most aren’t equipped with backs. I’m still getting use it that one, but I bet it’ll work wonders for my yoga poses!

My kitchen has sliding frosted doors to get into, and another set of sliding frosted doors on the outside wall that oversee the “Mart” next door. It has metal bars as a barrier so I don’t fall out which conveniently double as a drying rack. Oh, and the washer is in my kitchen too. As far as the window goes, I don’t keep it open much on account of the air that will come in - I think I already mentioned what that smells like L but the weather is still nice enough during the day that I can if I wanted to. I also have a microwave, which I’m quite happy about, and a gas stove top to cook whatever my little heart desires. The fridge is more like a bar fridge so I’m having a little trouble fitting as many condiments in there as I’m use to. One thing I miss is an oven and a dryer... I’m told that they are rare and are only for people with lots of money. I still haven’t met anyone that has one. When you really think about it, they do consume a lot of energy and are more of a convenience than anything. Maybe I’ll have to invest in a toaster oven!   

The washroom is small and a little awkward, but it’s still nice and bright. The only thing that’s really different is the shower, as you can see from the picture. The entire room transforms into a shower with the flip of a switch. That’s right, I have a drain in the middle of the room and I shower right next to the john. It was a little odd to get use to at first, but now it just seems normal. It’s great to be able to shower and brush my teeth at that same time! And cleaning it is so much easier. I’m actually surprised the style hasn’t caught on in North America – or atleast a variation of it. Another thing that I’m surprised hasn’t caught on is using scissors to cut things in the kitchen. I use scissors to cut almost everything now, from meats to vegetables to fruit, it’s great!

I’ve saved the best part of my apartment for last. It’s how it’s heated. Three words; in floor heating - it’s amazing. You know how great it feels when you put on a pair of pyjama’s when it first comes out of the dryer... imagine getting into clothes everyday with that same feeling. I try to put out what I’m going to wear the next day on the floor the night before. It warms them up which is especially nice now that it’s getting colder outside. I’m sure even parents would encourage keeping clothes on the floor once they’ve felt the toasty warmth which coming from their clothes. It’s especially nice when I’m sitting on the floor watching tv or I’m on my computer – keeps my buns nice and toasty!

That’s about it for the likes of my apartment!  I'll leave you with a picture of the Christmas wreath I made the other night. Until next time... J