The Darlings

The darlings... Ricky, always on the iPad.

My landlords are the sweetest people. I dont know their names, so I call them the Darling family. It is a husband and wife, their son Ricky, and the husbands mother. The apartment we are renting is great. It is very clean and modern for a Chinese apartment. Except for the bathroom that is in the kitchen? it has its own door, but it is basically in the kitchen. And the shower isn't really a shower.. there is just a shower head in the bathroom. Other than that, it is a great apartment. The family is so wonderful. They speak very little English, but are so helpful with any problems we come upon. The grandmother even planted  multiple pots for us. There are 5 pots spread throughout the house, one is a lily, an orchid, some arrangement of succulents and I dont know what else, but the gesture was wonderful. 

Josey has the larger room with the laundry area attached. They dont use dryers here, so all your clothes must hang dry. Apartments have a small room with acces to a window for that purpose. Josey has lived in China for six years and acquired much more stuff, so I dont mind having a smaller room. Plus I'm working on being more of a minimalist. The only thing missing in my room was a bed. The Darling family bought me a new mattress (the mattresses in China a re lot harder than the US, probably better for the back). A week later the headboard arrived. The house is very simple and plain, which I like. It's white walls and all white furniture. The couch is a dark purple, but I can deal with that. I assumed that my bed frame would be very similar to Josey's, plain white and simple. I'm not sure if they think I'm a princess? They must, because they bought me a headboard for an 8 year old princess. I don't think I have ever enjoyed girly things, and I dont think that will change soon. Even if I sleep under a velour purple headboard with diamonds and flowers. They can not break me down! I guess the grungy attire and flannel I wear wasn't obvious enough.