Home Sweet Hell

Not that I'm a great Japanese scholar (...yet...), but from what I understand, the original meaning of the word otaku was something like, "homebody."  Of course now, it has far wider reaching implications, but I found it an apropos factoid, because the last few weeks before vacation I was working on my apartment, and the more I got done, the more I wanted to stay at home.  This is, of course, not unrelated to the colloquial usage of the word otaku.  While it is possible to decorate your apartment without setting off the nerd alert, it's not much fun, especially if part of the reason you wanted to live in Japan was the opportunity to life the life.  However, being a classy grown-ass woman, I was determined to have a classy, grown-ass apartment.  This meant putting my mad art skillz to good use.

It all started one Saturday when I painted an Edo furin.  I'd gone to Asakusa with a friend, and after visiting Senso-ji and the shrines, wandering around eating ice cream we stumbled across an alley where several arts and crafts activities were set up...and they were free.  There were several options, but the glass windchime was the winner, and it only took me about two seconds to decide I would try to paint a pattern of Chinese lanterns - my favorite character's namesake.

While I'd already thought about planting some Chinese lanterns, I had yet to actually find them.  I've had pretty good luck with plants since moving to Mongolia, but green thumb or black, it's too late in the year.  Apparently Asakusa hosts a festival centered around them in early July, but that's still a long way off.  Instead I bought Christmas lights and used washi paper to make the bulb part of the plant.  I used a lantern and yet more washi paper to make my own goldfish plant.  These "flowers" are another part of Hozuki no Reitetsu, and although they don't (obviously) grow IRL, a crafty girl like me laughs at the constraints of so-called "reality."  I had paper lotus petals I got the last time I visited Jogyesa in Korea that I knew would be perfect for scales, but I was going to need something to build the body on.  I thought a paper lantern would do the trick, but it was challenging finding a plain, white round one.  In the end Daiso saved the day - their round, white lantern wasn't as sturdy as I would have liked, but I managed it, since I wasn't willing to wait around to find a better one.  When I had it finished, it turned out to be the perfect size to balance on the top of my floor lamp, once I'd taken the lampshade off.

At this point I had to admit that I was turning my bedroom into my (not-so) secret otaku hideaway.  I chose to rein in my mania in the rest of the apartment.  For starters, I had Mongolian art that had to go up.  I'd also put a few little Ghibli touches in when I first arrived, and since it had been too long since I'd sewn anything, I made a Totoro throw pillow for my chair.  One thing I really appreciated about my apartment when I got here was the fact that for a few more yen every month, my landlord provided me with some furnishings and appliances.  Most of what you see is what came with the place.  The closet space is really nice - it was one of my worries with the other apartments I was interested in.  For about $600 per month, I've got a pretty decently furnished place of 32m square (and no, I don't know what that is in tatami mats anymore than I could tell you how many pyeong my Korean apartments were).

Most of my plants stay in the kitchen, although I've thought a little about making a nice sitting area on my balcony (which I probably wouldn't ever sit in...there will be way too many mosquitoes come summer).  One of my ongoing goals for the year is to be better at adulting, which means I've cooked slightly more since coming back from the holidays.  I also set up my "art station" in the kitchen.  After a couple of weeks of my painting class last fall, I got tired of hunching over the coffee table in the living room, and bought a table and chair from IKEA.  I haven't actually used it much since finishing the course, because it's too darn cold in the kitchen - I keep the door shut so the living room stays warm - but it's waiting for warmer weather.

My place has a few Japanese bits, too.  For starters, there's the handwash station.  To one side of the kitchen there's a little vanity with a sink, shelves, and cabinets - mostly I use this to get ready in the morning...because my toilet has its own sink, just not the kind you would recognize.  When Five and I went to Kansai last spring, our first guesthouse had this kind of toilet - the water is released above the tank so that you can wash your hands with the water that fills it.  It also has a small or large flush function, so that saves a little more water.  Mine also has a fancy toilet seat, with a warmer and a bidet (which most of the time I don't use, but once a month I absolutely love it.  Girls, you know what I mean).

My bath is separate from the toilet, and it's fancy, too.  I put the plug in and press a button, and it beeps at me when it's full.  It's awesome.  One thing that is a pain, though, is that it doesn't dry out very well, especially in the winter.  I had just been leaving the fan on, but I was getting mildewy areas, so I've started squeegeeing the whole thing, then using my "mop" (an IKEA find - something like a Swiffer but with a reusable pad) to wipe up the water afterwards.  My laundry facilities are in the same closet, which is a little too convenient as most of the time I don't bother to put away my underwear.

So anyways, there's your grand tour.  Although there are things I miss about my place in Mongolia (aka, the radiators and the fact that I was never too cold), I feel like I got really lucky with my new apartment.  The only thing I could really wish for is being closer to a train station, or at least a bus stop, but since there's a vending machine that has cans of coke just two blocks away in each direction, I can live with that.

Home, Sweet Home on the Hill

I've owed Babysis this blog since last September.  See, she's always curious to see my apartments.  Now, the best thing for her to do would be to come and visit, but now that Bunny's come into the world, the probability of that happening have gone from "slim to none" to "ice cube's chance in Hell."  So here we are.  I've been waiting to write it until I didn't have something more interesting to blog about, and since I had nothing more exciting to write about this week and I went into a cleaning frenzy on Friday night, it seems the time has come.

To start the tour, we've got my living room.  Since living in Shanghai I've learned to love window seats, and I was excited that both my windows have a nice, wide ledge.  In the living room, I decided to make it into an additional sitting area.  I bought a felt rug from one of the tourist shops in town and a couple of Kazakh-embroidered pillows to embellish it with.  You can also see my desk, which is where all the magic happens...or it would if I didn't spend so much time checking my facebook and my blog stats.

This is the other side of my living room.  I just attached the DVD player I bought from Domestic Goddess to my projector, so my home theater is better than ever before.  The chair in the corner is my favorite, because I like to snuggle up in the corner.  This is probably my favorite room as far as what I've done to it.

Then there's the kitchen (and the entryway - you can see the silhouette of my Peruvian toritos guarding me against evil spirits above the door).  Be sure to note the kick ass installation of coke cans on the top of my cabinets.  One thing I like better about my apartment here than any I've lived in in Asia is the fact that it has an oven.  I actually don't use it that much, but on nights like tonight I decide I'm going to throw together some enchiladas and invite over some friends (because, let's face it, who knows when I'll clean up again...my guess would be sometime around the 19th of June...)  Yes, the refrigerator is tiny, but I don't keep that much food in the house, so I don't need a huge one.  Also, that IS a tv on top of the refrigerator.  It came with the apartment, but the Mongolian stations...well, let's just say there's nothing worse than watching Lord of the Rings dubbed in Mongolian.

And finally, we come to my bedroom (no, my apartment is not that big.  Yes, I skipped the bathroom.  I lost steam after FB chatting a couple of people Friday night and decided to watch Brave instead...thus, it's not clean, so you don't get to see it.  It's not that interesting anyways).  My bedroom used to have a decor I liked to think of as "Early Harlot Renaissance."  Strangely enough, my decorating themes tend to drift like continents every 5,000 miles or so.  Since moving to Mongolia the red in my bedroom has slowly been replaced by blue.  It wasn't even intentional, or it wasn't until I ordered the new quilt - another reason why I'm writing this blog this weekend.  One of my coworkers found this company here that recycles cashmere sweaters into quilts.  They're a little pricey, but very nice, and the proceeds go to help get women out of prostitution, so I decided to order one.  And that was when I looked at my room and realized that my red duvet cover no longer went with my room (also, it was getting a little tatty - I bought it in an Indian shop in Dubai and the quality never was fantastic, much as I loved it).  So I ordered a blue one and this is what they made me.  Engrish kindly picked mine up Friday when she got hers, since I was busy putting my art display together for Saturday's open house.  I really like it...except...it's got a few patches with brightly colored flowers.  I guess they accent the bits of color in my Mongolian painting, but they're just so damn bright.  Still, it's soft and warm and sleeps like a dream, so I'm a pretty satisfied customer.  If you're interested in getting one for yourself, you can email Belgee at belegsaikhan@yahoo.com and she'll give you the details.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot to say about my place.  I've thought a little about moving into a different apartment for next year - the building is split down the middle and it's a little quiet on this half sometimes, especially if Engrish moves out next year, and if I moved into Lit's place, I'd have lots of cabinets and a great view of the mountains, instead of a whole lot of construction.  But in the end, it's a lot of hassle, packing everything, and I kind of like my flat.  But mostly it's because of the hassle.  I'm not sure if I've said this here, but packing and moving is just about my least favorite thing in the world to do - I'd rather write reports, take finals, or go to the doctor, and if you know me, none of those things rank very highly on my list of things to do in my free time.

Typhoon Day?

Very similar to a snow day, except with rain. We were supposed to start teaching today. Instead, we got a typhoon warning, so the kiddos didn't come to school and the teachers only worked a half day. It was nice to have some more time for planning, and I had a very nice nap (until I was rudely awakened by our downstairs neighbor)...but part of me just. wants. to. get. on. with. it.

The downstairs neighbor didn't speak English (didn't speak Korean, either, although that probably wouldn't have helped much). I made my first call to the Foreigner's Help Line of the day to tell me what it was she wanted. Apparently, the leak from my toilet and accompanying clogged drain that I haven't bothered to complain about has extended itself through her ceiling. Hmm. Not good. So I decided it was time to find the management office and have it taken care of. So call number two happened when I found myself in the security office (although I didn't know it at the time...they had to translate that for me, as well). Call Three, in the actual management office, explained my issue and got Mr. Fix-It following me back to my place. Call Four was the last one of the day, in which the guy explained - through the interpreter - that I needed to pay him 40 kuai for the part he installed (and since I had to pay for it, I kind of want to take it with me when I move out) and that he would have to return tomorrow to unclog the drain in the floor, since apparently they are off at 5 and he couldn't get to the tools he needed. There should have been a fifth call, in which they explained to him that I had either 30 kuai or 100 kuai, but I'd already hung up and was too embarrassed to call them yet again. I don't know how I would have gotten by without the service though...actually in the last five years of living abroad, I haven't needed it, since I was living in school housing and they always took care of whatever needed to be done. Oh well. More incentive to kick ass during the next two years so that I can work at a GOOD school next time around.

The comfort of Korea, the excitement of Shanghai

It is the end of day four in Shanghai. I like it, but it's bloody hot...I was rolling my eyes at Socrates for moaning about the heat, because, c'mon, we've lived in the Emirates. Then I walked outside yesterday.

Oh. My. Heck.

I will not deny the fact that in the past I may have criticized military and government expats for the fact that they basically live an American lifestyle in a foreign country, so they don't really get to experience the culture in quite the same way. Well, I've become one of those people, except because I'm abnormal, I'm living a Korean lifestyle and not an American one like I ought to be. Since getting off the plane on Tuesday I've eaten Korean food three times, been to the jjimjjilbang, and then, there's the little matter of my apartment hunt.

For the first time in my expat life, I have to find my own apartment, which is a pain in the ass when you're jetlagged and don't speak the language. The school gives me a RMB 3000/mo stipend to pay for this, which is not in any way, shape, or form, feasible. A nearby school gives them the choice of school housing, and if they decline, gives them RMB 6000/mo. So this has been the first hassle of my adventures in China, especially because I've been a little wishy-washy about what I want. One bedroom? Two? How much extra will I go over the stipend? Where do I want it? As we say in Korea (when we want to start a fight...): AISHSHIP'PAL!!!

Well, one thing I DID know that I wanted, although I'd been told was not to be had, was ondol. If you've never had the pleasure of Korean-style radiant floor heat, you're missing out. Nothing compares to waking up on a cold morning and stepping onto a nice, warm floor. Nothing compares to coming home chilled to the bone and sitting your buns down on a toasty floor. And since there were SO many Korean businesses around, I made a leap of logic and hoped against hope that there must be SOME apartments nearby with ondol (the Korean style of heating in which hot water is pumped through the floors). When I asked the realtor, it turns out I was right. But here's the catch: they're expensive. Still, I couldn't help asking to see one, even though it broke my heart when I did. Because the apartment she showed me was lovely - 2 balconies, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms...way more space than I needed, but a lovely place with a view straight into the heart of SUIS. I wanted it. I couldn't afford it. There were other thoughts running through my head, but basically I couldn't afford it, and I really thought I'd rather live on Hongmei Road, where there's a little more action.

So I saw a few more places...cheaper ones relatively close to the school...and went home to clean up before going out to meet Roisin. She and I both worked for GDA in our previous lives, but not at the same time, and I was excited to finally meet this enigma that both friends and favorite students were both so fond of. I am glad to say I was not disappointed....she's good craic and really knowledgeable and helpful, and it was fun to relive old times. She also made me rethink this whole apartment thing. She was amazed that I'd found an apartment with ondol and urged me to find a way to afford it, because those nice warm floors would be SO worth it.

And there was one.

I just didn't want to use it, because it involved me getting a roommate. Roommates can be wonderful things. I LOVED living with Sara, and there are a few people that I can say it was a pleasure sharing space with. There were also quite a few that made my life hell. But the moral of the story is I just didn't want to, for reasons that, upon reflection in the taxi coming home, didn't hold water. Also upon reflection, I would get to live a lot more comfortably, and would probably be in a better mental state. Plus there is a really sweet British girl who has been desperately trying to find someone to share an apartment with, and this apartment gave me the chance to do a good turn for her while getting something I wanted. I didn't even need to go home and pray about it (although I kind of wanted to, just to stall the inevitable)...I knew this was the right thing to do. So I texted Gemma in the cab coming home and asked her if she was still looking for a roommate. And thus it looks like I'm going to be living next to the school sharing a fabulous apartment with a nice person next year.

Life could be worse.