Apartment in Hailar

Welcome to my new home! After a bit of rearranging, I finally settled on this layout for my living room that I think is quite cozy. Although you may not care for the details, I'm giving them to you anyway.... We (Woody, Sherry and I) had to buy a coat rack since we couldn't stand coats laying all over the furniture and floor. But other than that, all the pieces were in the apartment when we arrived. I dragged the rug in from my room and the coffee table from the porch. When I brought the table in from the unheated (and therefore about 40 below) porch, it was very dirty. I immediately sprayed it with cleaner and started to scrub. This technique, however, did not produce the expected results as the cleaner froze immediately to the table and my scrubbing only added dirt to the frozen mix! So, I had to let the dirty table sit in my living room and defrost itself before finally removing the grime.



The kitchen also needed a little tweaking. Although the water cooler had been in the apartment, the previous owner (like the majority of Chinese) did not care for cold water, so she had never plugged in the machine, but rather just used the water at room temperature. Because of this, she had never bothered to notice that the corner in which she placed the jug and machine did not have an outlet. So, I moved the fridge and water closer to the cooking part of the kitchen and the table into the corner. The most work came when I opened the cabinets and realized that every dish left was covered in dust and what I suspect to be bits of old food. As soon as I found and bought dish detergent, I cleaned every dish from every cupboard.....in cold water. Apparently, it's not uncommon to have no hot water in the kitchen. It wouldn't have been so bad save for the fact that the door leading to the unheated and very cold porch is directly next to the sink, resulting in a very cold floor in that corner. At least I could eat off of the dishes afterwards!



My bedroom is equip with a bed, a desk and a fold-down couch. If you've ever seen a klick-klak commercial in the states, that's as close as I can describe this couch. In the picture it's folded down into a bed since Woody and Sherry had an American guest staying at the apartment for two weeks. I almost prefer it in the bed form since the couch cover is the most hideous design I think I could comprise. As you can see, the curtains too are an eyesore. Perhaps I'll send up an updated picture of my room when I begin to arrange and decorate it closer to my liking. With a positive perspective, I am reminded that the bed is highly comfortable by China standards and I actually have a closet in the room, unlike Sherry and Woody. Their bedroom, pictured below, has an attached porch. As you may already have guessed, their porch is unheated and also the lovely location of their wardrobe closet!



I am also thankful that my bedspread is not covered in lace. Apparently the owner of the apartment has a thing for lace and fake flowers since they were abundantly covering every surface and object in the entire apartment. The first thing I did upon arrival was to pack these eye sores away. She even had fake flowers woven around the pipes in the shower! They were wet and moldy, how is that pretty? The light above the toilet is still covered with fake foliage as is the pipe (not pictured) in the corner of the toilet room. Our bathroom is split into two rooms, one with a western toilet (praise Him!) and the other with a sink, shower and washing machine.



Overall, I'm very pleased with the apartment. I had worries that it would be extremely primitive, trying my determination daily. The location is also ideal. The building is located on one of the main roads in Hailar, and there's a large park nearby. Although I haven't wandered into it yet, from driving by I can tell that in the spring and summer there will be amusement park rides there! I am about 15 minutes on foot from where I work and from John's apartment. Even though it can be a cold walk, I enjoy the daily exercise to and from work. I am also about 15 minutes (in another direction and by taxi) from the Hulun Bier college where I may begin working in the mornings. The downtown shopping center is a five minute taxi ride (I've not yet explored this route on foot) from my apartment, but due to the business of that center I have yet to go there alone, without a translator. There are many little shops along my walk to work which supply me with daily necessities. So far life in Hailar is fairly simple and not as daunting as I worried. I still can't distinguish between any of the apartment buildings, but I am slowly learning the locations of decent restaurants and where to buy the least expensive items. Before I left for Camp two weeks ago, I even ordered food from a nearby restaurant to go! I only used three Chinese words: rice, celery and cashew dish, and doggy bag. My vocabulary is increasing but I'm still constantly being corrected on my pronunciations!