Welcome to my igloo!

Seriously. Our apartment reaches absolute zero at least fifteen times a day. Here's why:

1. We have no heating system. Chinese apartments come equipped with... well... nothing. No heating system, which means you can definitely forget about having AC in the summer. But no heating system means we have to go buy an electric heater. Last winter we borrowed one, but that option doesn't look doable this time, so we need to get a heater for ourselves. And being the procrastinators that we are, we still haven't gotten one. Which means we are freezing.

When you live in America, or most Western countries, you really take it for granted that you have heat in your home. Sure, it makes the bills go up a bit, but at least you don't have icicles instead of eyebrows.

2. We have "wood" flooring. No carpet or rugs to keep our tootsies warm. Carpet is like a big deal here for some reason. Rarely do you come across an apartment with carpet, and when you do, it's like heaven. I'm not joking. But you know what? At least we have wood and not tile like most Chinese apartments have. If we had tile, then not only would we have no need of a refrigerator, but we would have frostbite up to our knees. 

3. Our apartment is built from cement. That's all. No fancy schmancy insulation or two-by-fours. Just plain, cold, calculated concrete.

4. Our windows are single-paned. If there were any heat in the house to be found at all, the menacing (and LARGE, might I add) windows would sweep it up into their frigid grasp and cruelly switch it out with the freezing air from outside. Evil windows.

Even if we have a sunny and relatively warm day (like this morning), it doesn't mean a thing. It honestly takes two full weeks of fabulous weather to warm up our apartment. But you get even one cloudy day, and it's all over. 

I can't imagine living somewhere in China where the weather actually does get pretty cold. Here I am whining, and the coldest Kunming gets is probably around 35 deg F. That's not unbearable. 

But since whatever temperature is outside means that it's inside as well, it's pretty... uh... frustrating. Unbearable? No. But definitely annoying.

Maybe I should just stop complaining and go out and buy a heater.

Eh, maybe not. I don't wanna go outside. 

Too cold.