Comments from John about his Chinese family and their apartment.

The apartment I am staying at in Shanghai is very nice. It has grass, its own little road, and a parking garage. Just a short ten-minute walk, it is ideal for an exchange student at the Number Three Girls Shanghai School. Our apartment complex, or what Rainy calls her “neighborhood”, is comprised of several buildings. I live there with the Chen family, which includes Rainy, my mom, and my dad.  Inside the neighborhood, there is exercise equipment, and a park.

 Everyday, after school we play on our neighborhood exercise equipment, which normally is only something done by the elderly. I think that it is fun, and it wakes you up. It is different from anything in the US and is impossible to describe. For example, you stand on little shoes in the air and swing back and forth. On another machine that reminds me of an old train because of the way the wheels spin, you walk in a large circular motion. This one is tough.

Since it is only fifteen minutes from school, Rainy and I walk. We take the elevator down then at the lobby hit a little button that unlocks the doors. Then we go out the gate and to school.  Along the way, we pass a bank, barbershop, and places to eat. To get back home, we walk in the gate, then we have to type in a code, then a little camera looks at us, and Rainy’s parents will unlock the lobby door.

The apartment itself is very beautiful, and modern. Since it is on the twenty-first floor, it has nice views of the Oriental Pearl Tower, and other buildings. When you walk in the front door, to your immediate left is the kitchen. Usually this is where we eat. To the left is the table; to the right are the cooking appliances.

    There are two bathrooms, a kitchen, a front and a back hall, a computer room, two bedrooms, two porches, a living room, and a dining room. All the rooms are big, and we can really spread out. The living room is my favorite room to hang out and do whatever. It has a lot of comfortable couches, a huge TV, and a nice DVD and a CD player. I don’t watch a lot of TV here, but it must be a lot of fun with all those things.

Back to Home Page