Life in Wuhan

Since I have had several people ask me about my daily life in Wuhan, I decided to dedicate an entire post on my life as a foreigner in China. Housing: I currently live in an on-campus apartment with three other people. Two of my roommates are Vietnamese, and my third roommate is from Australia. My apartment consists of a kitchen, living room, and bathroom along with our bedrooms. However, the apartment is not fully furnished, so our living room is pretty bare with the exception of a water cooler, mini-fridge, folding table and a lot of empty space. If we all eat together, then we roll out a rug and sit on the floor to eat. The kitchen does not come with anything except for a sink. To cook food, we use a hot plate as ovens are very hard to find and prohibited to use in the dormitory. The bathroom is an all-in-one meaning the shower isn't separate from the sink and toilet. On the positive side, the apartment has a western style toilet which is nice. The only room that came with any furniture are the bedrooms. Each bedroom has a bed, desk, bookshelf and mini-closet.

Even though it is December and the weather is starting to get colder, the office still has not turned on the heat. During the day, the weather is not too cold, but at night it's cold. A lot of people have resorted to buying electric blankets and mini-heaters, both of which are prohibited. There is also the issue of hot water or lack of hot water. Some days there will be hot water all day while other days there won't be any at all. The first month that I was here I washed all my clothes by hand because I didn't know where the washing machines were. Unlike my previous dorms, where I only had to walk down the hall, I now have to leave my apartment in order to laundry. To dry my clothes, I set-up a clothesline in my room because there aren't any dryers here. This may sound somewhat uncomfortable but in comparison to Chinese students I can't complain. Chinese students, especially freshman and sophomores, often live with 3 or 4 other people in one room. (Sometimes more sometimes less people) In addition, they do not have air conditioning or heat. Bathrooms do not have hot water at all. Instead, they have to boil water and put it in a canister. And to shower, they have to walk to a shower house.

School:

My classmates are some of my closest friends here. My class consists of a diverse group of students from S. Korea, France, Turkey, and Germany. In addition to studying, we often have group activities and dinners. In fact, for Christmas, we are participating in a Secret Santa and all of us are preparing a dish. Sort of like potluck! So, if anyone has a recipe for something festive that doesn't require an oven, then send it my way! :)

I will post another blog about life in Wuhan later this week! Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! :)