Our Apartment

Pictures will have to come later as the weather is so dreary that it will make our apartment seem bleak indeed.

We are on the ground level of a high-rise apartment complex at the south end of the city. Our apartment is huge, and so the only wall that we share with another tenant is the ceiling (does that count as a wall?). It's very quiet, which is a big change from the last apartment we lived in while in downtown Taipei.

Apartments are never heated here, only air conditioned (using window box air conditioners), which makes sense, I guess. But, it had been around 10 degrees outside for the past week, so our apartment was pretty cold. The little oil space heater that my boss gave me couldn't even begin to heat our apartment, so I just set it in our bedroom with the door closed, so that at least one room would be warm. And when we're in the rest of the apartment, we wear our jackets and wrap ourselves in blankets.

We also have a little dehumidifier, which I need to empty every 24 hours or less of the two litres of water that it collects. Again, I have it solely in the bedroom, as having it in the main area would be pointless. It's a little humid here...

The apartment has the regular Taiwan doors and windows that never close properly or seal shut. I have stuffed washcloths in the gaps around our window air conditioner in our room to keep out insects (and keep in the warmth). The big venting pipe above our stove goes out the kitchen window. It is round, the window is rectangular. There is nothing around the pipe, and the gaps are much too big for washcloths! I would have to stuff entire towels in there if I wanted it sealed. I haven't bothered. We're only here for four months.

The bathroom is very Taiwanese. All tile floor and walls, plastic ceiling, drain in the middle of the floor, and no shower rod, let alone a curtain around the bathtub and shower. At least it's not a squat toilet, and it does have a bathtub for Michael. I bought a mop the very first day because I knew that after every shower, I would have to mop the entire bathroom up. At least it keeps things clean!

I have a little fridge (the same model that I had in my dorm in Quebec City), a microwave, a toaster over and two gas elements on my stove. Outside in my walled back courtyard (yes, I also have a front courtyard) are my small washer and dryer (for which I am very thankful).

My former teaching assistant, May, is also my neighbour. We're separated by a hallway. She's the one who found this apartment and set it all up for me. She's lending me one of her computers, and even gave me a headset with microphone and webcam so that I can talk to Robert.

Hopefully, it will warm up soon, because it can get pretty chilly in here!