We successfully moved into our new apartment 3 weeks ago, and have been busy ever since.

When we moved into this apartment we knew that there were things that need fixing right away, and that service men were not going to be available due to the virus situation. So my wife and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Luckily we both come from families that promoted Do It Yourself home repair.

First thing we had to do was replumb the bathroom sink. The sink was so clogged that nothing would go down. When we looked, the pipe was a thin plastic hose (commonly used here). The problem with these thin hoses is that drain cleaners create enough heat to melt a hole in them. We did not burn a hole in this one, but instead went to the local home repair shop and got a new hose, and decided to install a new drain with a built-in plug at the same time.

The next project was the kitchen. While that isn’t complete yet, it’s so much better. Our old apartment had literally a metal sink and 2 computer desks instead of counters, so really anything would be an upgrade.

This kitchen needed a good cleaning. Now, you should be aware that every apartment in China we have rented has had a ton of grease caked over the kitchen walls, and a lot of people just don’t have the energy to fight it. Well we don’t live like that. My wife and I spent 1 day just cleaning grease off of everything we could. Then, we went to work on the counter top.

The counters in the kitchen had big cracks in them. One was even broken through. Now neither of us have the skills to truly repair that. Instead we braced the broken section and bought some marble textured sticky linoleum and covered it up.

While Keeping busy doing this I have had to completely take over schooling my daughter as she is unable to use the apps that the rest of her class is using to study. Some of them require a better understanding of Chinese to use, and another reqires a Chinese name and Citizenship number.

On top of all this I still teach my school class in the mornings, play with my toddler in the afternoon and spend all night marking and planning. Needless to say I have been a little tired.

I hope everyone else has been keeping busy during this interesting time.