Home Base

I took pictures of our apartment today. As I mentioned before, its on an out-of-the-way little street behind a rather large mall. The building we are in is about four stories high, but has an odd split-level system that allows for 6 floors (kind of). All of the doors open off of a central court that's open to the outdoors.


When we walk into our apartment there is a bathroom immediately to the left. Its hard to see the bath tub/shower, but it posed quite a problem when we first arrived. The shower and bath tub spigots are independent of each other (come to find out) so if you start the bath tub water to set the temperature (the way you do in the U.S.) and then turn on the shower - you get nothing but cold water coming out of the shower head and the hot water continues to come out for the bath tub. Then the shower head was set to "soak bathroom" It gave off a lovely even spray high enough to jump the glass partition. It was all a little frustrating, but once we did some experimenting and adjusting, everything worked fine. I remember Alice saying that she was instructed to give her Japanese exchange students instructions on how to use a Western shower. I wish someone had been kind enough to fill me in too!


And our bedroom is immediately to the right. I am especially fond of the bedspread. It doesn't feel like a down comforter, but its really warm like one. Maybe it has a combination of down and something weightier.



As you continue down the hall there is a kitchen to the left (its bigger than it looks and came equipped with dishes, utensils and a modest supply of cooking hardware.Notice the cloths washer under the counter. I'm anxious to try it out, but I still need to buy soap.


At the end of the entrance hallway you go through a door into the main living space. This is composed of a living room on the right and a dining room on the left. The living room has internet access (though we need a power cord before we can convert it to wireless), and a TV. The dining room is just off to the left (picture to come). Its a bit cramped - especially for Russell, but its nice.

Unfortunately, this apartment was not designed with Russells in mind. The light fixtures hang at about his nose level and he has to duck to get through doorways. He is taking it all in stride, though (with only minor bumps and bruises).