 |
| Our apartment building |
Juliana
goes through these spells of nostalgia. Thoughts of the carefree life
of the long ago four year old can bring her to tears. She especially
misses our old apartment, where we lived when she was 1-3 years old.
One day after telling her once again that no, we couldn't go back to
visit because someone we don't know lived there now, I decided to
show her some pictures of the old apartment.
The
first picture she saw was this one, and what do you think she said?
"Oh,
I miss our old bathroom! It was such a pretty bathroom!"
I
had to laugh, wondering what exactly she missed. Was it the mold? The
broken tiles? The rusty water pipes lining all the walls? The leaky pipes and broken toilet? Or perhaps
the perfume of sewer gasses that was particularly pungent in warm
weather.
As
teachers, the school provides furnished housing, but as language
students we had to find our own. Pickings were rather slim, and all
we had to go by were pictures from another city. We chose the
smaller, older, cheaper apartment partly for the price ($120/month)
and partly because it was furnished. The only furniture we owned was
a crib, and the thought of furnishing a whole apartment sounded
daunting and expensive.
 |
| Living/dining room. Does this count as "open concept"? |
You
could say our apartment had some special features. One of the
windows broke and since the landlord didn't want to repair it, we
fixed it ourselves - with thick plastic, tape, and chopsticks. [We
realized in the US this would be considered super trashy, but in
China our American friends congratulated us on our resourceful fix].
The laundry porch was filled halfway to the ceiling with random
things the landlord left behind. If you sat in one particular
spot on the couch, you could smell cigarette smoke from an unknown
source. The kitchen was so small that the fridge was in the living
room, as was the folding table and chairs which served as the dining
area.
 |
| I bought some green fabric to cover up the big gas tank and rickety counter frame. |
And
the kitchen itself was the most special part of all. The "counter"
was actually layers of boards propped up on a rickety frame/old broom
handle. The one burner stove was in its own little metal alcove built
onto the window. You had to bend out the window and down into the
alcove to cook. In winter, the burner sat on a bed of moldy ice; in
summer, rain dripped down through the crevices. Every winter, the
kitchen windows froze over from the inside.
 |
| When we arrived the stove alcove was covered in newspaper. That seems like a good idea, right? |
And
then there was the roach infestation. I still shiver thinking about
opening the cabinet to see dozens of roaches scurry away. And every
spring we would lose water for a couple of months. The water would be
on for an hour at meal times and sometimes for a couple of hours at
night. We planned laundry, baths, and toilet flushing accordingly.
 |
| Juliana's room was definitely the prettiest. Perhaps that's why she has such fond memories. :) |
It
would be hard to go back to that apartment, with its particle board
furniture. And yet, I really liked that home. It was there that
Juliana took her first steps and finally (finally) slept through the
night. It was there our Chinese language abilities progressed from
pathetic to passable. I spent many all too memorable hours throwing
up and awaiting the arrival of Adalyn.
 |
| Ice patterns inside |
It
was in that apartment I learned that there is always beauty even in
the ugliness. Admittedly, I never found a purpose for the roaches,
nasty little abominable creatures. But the thin windows and
inadequate heating allowed for intricate ice patterns on the windows
and cozy evenings doing homework next to the radiator. The small
space meant that Juliana could keep me in sight no matter where I
was. The climb to the sixth floor meant light and breeze and
unobstructed mountain views.
I
once planned to be an architect, and then -when I learned how much
math that would entail- an interior decorator. I still get hooked on
HGTV in America. I particularly enjoy the shows like Fixer Upper or
Property Brothers, where they take a really ugly old house and
transform it into something new. I think there is something in us
that craves beauty and restoration.
I
always dreamed of having a house like that - beautiful, spacious, and
mold free. A place where everything matched. Instead most of my
homes have been more similar to the “before” version than the
after. Even the apartment we have now, a very nice roach
free
three bedroom apartment - a huge step up from the last one - is
hardly an American dream home.
Perhaps
one day I will have a pretty home with more than one bathroom, hot
water in the sinks, and no downstairs neighbors to worry about. Ooh, and a dishwasher. I think a dishwasher would be veeery pretty. But
until then, I will keep enjoying our home for what it is – home.
Perhaps one day I will restore and redecorate and transform, but for
today I will overlook the ugly and focus on the beautiful all around.
