Kunming Apartment (2)

It is difficult to get good photos of the inside of an apartment, but I've pasted a few photos together to try to give you some idea of where we live. The living room is huge, and we figure we can get over 20 students around our new TV (including a few behind this rail in the raised dining area--shown below). The main door is just to the right of this photo, the kitchen is behind you, and the small hallway (shown) is to the left. Standing in the hall doorway, you are in the master bedroom, looking at Andrew's room. The main bathroom is to the right, to the left you turn into the dining room, the door to the right (next to Andrew's room) is the laundry room, and opposite the laundry room is my office.
This apartment is the newest, biggest, nicest and cheapest home we have had in China. If that last word doesn't seem to fit, think of this: every time we have moved in this country, Michael has taken a big pay cut. Shanghai is very expensive by Chinese standards, but we had a nice place of around 90 sq m. In Xi'an, Michael's pay was lower and our 97 sq m apartment was cheaper. Our Kunming apartment is around 110 sq m (maybe more) and is in a new complex; and Michael's pay is considerably lower than it was in Xi'an! If we keep moving, maybe we'll end up with a huge apartment and no income at all. ☺ There are some outdoor photos on the KM_apt page, and you can click here to see the small campus dorm room we had moved from.
Master Bedroom and Vivian's home office	Andrew's Bedroom (note his alcove with a nice courtyard view)
This is the nicest kitchen we've had in China, too. However, whoever designed the kitchen forgot to include a place for the refrigerator. The landlord suggested putting it in the dining room, but we opted to put it (with the water dispenser) in the balcony (which is next to the kitchen window).	That made them wonder where we would put the washing machine which belongs on the balcony--well, we disconnected the shower beside the "Chinese" toilet and put it there. We only use the squat toilet in emergency situations.
The "western" bathroom is just inside the door to the master bedroom. When we arrived, the shower water just splashed everywhere, so we added a glass stall.	Michael's study is about the size of an American closet (this is four photos, stuck together!). But it was easy to heat in the winter, and we added lots of bookcases, a fast Internet connection and a nice wooden desk to make it comfortable. Michael certainly does not have a green thumb. He has already managed to kill all of the plants shown in his window, but we are looking for more. The refrigerator balcony is outside his window.
When we moved in (October 2005) there weren't many other tenants. For six months we asked for an electric bill, but the complex management just kept saying, "Sorry, we don't know how to bill you yet." Every weekend (and throughout the day, every day) LOTS of people were drilling, banging and sawing to prepare their own apartments. Most of that stopped after Chinese New Year (Feb. 2006) as more people moved in. In spite of being surrounded by the city, it is a very quiet place to live or entertain. Click here for a few photos of our Christmas activities with students. Other links: Outdoor apartment views

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