Well, it is a mixed bag. Parts of it are kinda nice. I am making my room comfortable, and the super huge cupboard is nice because it means I can finally put things out of sight. Wifi was an issue for a while--lots of bitching ensued. But the director sent his daughter and a computer teacher over to look at it last night, and honestly it has worked fairly well since then. Better than my last place at least. Which is not saying much, but whatever. The door lock situation was also remedied. In addition to the sliding locks on the inside of the door and the padlock space on the outside, they added a normal doorknob with key...success! So that was a plus. We have our kitchen pretty much set up, complete with fridge, rice cooker, tea kettle, microwave, and electric pan. We bought our dishes, silverware, and glasses and even got a cute tablecloth and some silly curtains for the windows. So parts of the house are shaping up quite nicely.
The real issue is the bathroom. At first we thought the major issue was hot water--they never installed any hot water machine on the shower, and we weren't looking forward to a year of cold showers. So we asked that they install one. Which they did. However, this was before we even tried the water. When we did, we found that it flows barely more than a trickle. In fact, the shower is mostly unusable. In the morning my "shower" consists of getting damp with the trickle and filling the sink at the same time. I then do most of my bathing with the sink water. Not really what I had in mind when I was forced to move here. When we reported the problems, the "solution" was that the supply teacher would get us a bucket to store water in, so when the water flow was low we could use that to bathe. Yeah, not cool. I was kind of hoping they would
FIX the problem, not just cover it up. It got even worse this morning when I went to the bathroom. No water at all. I tried to flush the toilet--nothing. No toilet, no sink, no shower. Solution? Bucket. That way we can manually flush the toilet if we need to. Or so I am told. Yes, I understand that it would work, but what about actually trying to do something about the water? Am I being absurd here? I know that as an American I am used to more "creature comforts" than most, but I really don't think that running water is negotiable. Or it shouldn't be. And won't be. If they don't fix it then I am moving back to my old place. I am just so tired from this week that I can't even imagine moving again.
Anyway, here are some pics from the new place. Hope you enjoy them!
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| Pink elephant bed (chosen for me) |
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| My window--no glass, only wood shutters |
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| Looking back towards the door. I love A/C!!! |
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| Our living room, kitchen, and breakfast room |
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| The dreaded bathroom |
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| Standing by the kitchen table |
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| By the front door. My room is the one with the door closed |
Anyway, here ends the guided tour. Hope this gives a better idea of where I am living. I will try to keep you updated on the progress. Hopefully we resolve the water bullshit soon. See you later.
Your shower situation is very common in SE Asia. I never had hot water in any of the houses where I stayed in Malaysia (whether in Kuala Lumpur or at my field site). I think it's usually warm enough that people welcome the cold showers. So you're lucky they added a heater! The lack of water pressure is also super common and many "showers" only have a faucet and a bucket/scoop. I think this is the traditional method of bathing, so showers from the wall are more modern/recent. In my experience, even if there is a true shower, there is always a bucket too because the water pressure isn't reliable (same thing for flushing toilets; you often have to flush using water from the bucket).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this probably doesn't encourage you, but I am trying to be encouraging!! Basically, your school/house builders aren't just being mean/negligent/crazy. In all likelihood, it all seems completely fine to them, and this may be what they have in their homes too (i.e., what is "normal" is just different). That said, I do hope they fix the pressure for you. That would get super annoying, especially since you are there a year!!
(The door padlock thing is normal too. In Malaysia all the houses are closed with padlocks and not door knobs/locks. It freaked me out, because I didn't think I would be able to get out easily in a fire!)
Yeah, the water thing is odd. I am fine with having the bucket method around when water pressure is low, but I guess that suggests that sometimes there is some water pressure. Right now I have been without any water for about 2 hours. The other issue is that I don't even have the bucket etc. so right now it is literally splashing myself from the sink.
DeleteAll that being said, apparently it has gotten to be a big problem here and they are contacting the water company because all the teachers are having issues. The padlock thing was weird at first, but I don't really mind it. I just need things to stabilize a bit. It was just irritating to be settled into one place and then forced to move, just to have all these issues to deal with.
Oh man! Yeah the bucket method implies that you at least have enough water to fill a bucket! :( Hopefully they fix it! Do all the teachers live in housing provided by the school? That is cool (in theory). Good luck settling in again! I totally feel your pain... I hate moving!!! Anyway, I'm enjoying your blog, and hope things get better again!
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