It turned out that I was right to worry about living conditions of my permanent apartment based on the condition of my temporary apartment building a few weeks ago.  The elevator was frightening and the building desperately needed renovating.

My permanent apartment building is the opposite.  The elevator doesn’t scare me at all and the overall condition of the building is like a new mansion compared to the last one.  The neighbourhood and view are great.

Seeing the sun rising before 2am on June 18th out my window was a surprise.

Inside the actual apartment, however, is another story.

Let’s start with my new bedroom.  It turns out that in Russia, it’s not standard to clean up after yourself for the next tenant.  The teacher before me didn’t clean up after himself at all.  When I walked in, it still looked as if he were still living there.  The floor was covered, stinky bed sheets were wrinkled up on the two disgusting mattresses, clothes hanging in the closet, junk in the drawers, layers of dust, and brown dirt that had to scrubbed off every hard surface.

Under the bed was worse.  I lost count how many dust-covered socks I dug out along with the other junk and garbage.

It turns out that some of my coworkers have had more disgusting beginnings in their Moscow apartments. One delightfully discovered a bloody pad open face-up on the bathroom floor the day she moved in, and another had to clean up a pile of used condoms under her bed.

As sickening as that was, they were fortunate that their kitchens or bathrooms weren’t disgusting and falling apart like mine.  It’s the only time that I’ve been repelled by a microwave or a stove because it was so dirty that it was sticky.  It took a few days for my roommate and I to clean and scrub everything; I don’t mind going in and using the kitchen anymore.

The bathroom, however, is falling apart, and that is not an exaggeration.  The wallpaper and tiles are coming off, there is an enormous mould patch above the tiles in the shower, the shower head cannot rest on anything except the water taps/knobs, the pipes are clogged, the floor is covered in some weird white stains, the sink is not secure to the wall and is actually very loose, the toilet seat is broken and completely detached, the toilet itself is ancient and desperately needs to be replaced, and the list goes on…and on.

The landlady just handed me a spray bottle of cleaner for the mould when I showed her.  I did what I could, and I have to scrub it regularly because the mould grows back since I can’t get rid of it completely. The wall needs a fresh paint job.  The landlady better fix it. I’ll mention it when I finally get my vacuum and new mattress that she promised me over a week ago already. Fingers crossed that the cleaner was just a temporary thing.

Oh, this past week, my roommate and I woke up to a flooded bathroom.  I should note that the toilet has its separate little room, and it was that room that was flooded.  It turned out that there was something wrong with the upstairs plumbing, and my roommate said that it was raining in there.

This great view always lifts my spirits.

We were told that a plumber was coming a few times, but only came once.  Water started dripping again, and our kitchen floor near the sink was wet too.  Yesterday, the bathroom door fell off its hinges.  The kitchen sink is clogged.  Ugh!  It just never ends!

As annoying and inconvenient as the bathroom and throne falling apart are, I’m getting more and more comfortable in my room, which I’ve been able to make my own little space.  Even with the kitchen clean, it’s taking me a lot longer to warm up to it, but it’s getting better, slowly but surely.

In a nutshell, the standard of living here is lower and landlords/landladies just don’t seem to care.  If mine doesn’t at least get paint the shower to completely cover/clean up the mould and get the toilet fixed or better yet, replaced, I’m going to ask my employer for a new apartment. That is not an unreasonable request.

I didn’t have a single problem with my apartments in Japan.  Have a look at my first apartment in Japan!

Have you ever had similar problems while living abroad?

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