| I've lived in an apartment for two years. My apartment is very small but very cozy. I have one bedroom, and a kitchen together with a living room. The location of my apartment is very convenient and quiet. Before this time I lived in the Bay Area with my daughter, and now I'm very happy to live in San Francisco and go to school to study English and see my friends who are there. My apartment in San Francisco isn't very different from apartments in my native city. My apartment was also small and cozy. It was near a huge Botanical Park specializing in lilacs, unique in Europe. When the lilacs flowered, a lot of people came from different cities to see those spectacular flowers and smell their perfume. I'm very surprised about the flowers in San Francisco which don't have a fragrance, because the climate and lots of sunshine could promote that. I like my apartment in San Francisco and thank America for my living there.--Lilya |
| I have been living in my house for eight years. My house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dining room, a living room, and a kitchen. Usually I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Of course the living room is my favorite room. I really like to live in this area because it is very clean, quiet, safe, and it is in a convenient location. Also, this is a nice neighborhood. One thing, if possible, I would like to build a swimming pool. That would be perfect.--Helen |
| I want to buy a house now. I'm looking for a nice place with a nice price in a good neighborhood that is convenient and has good schools. We've rented a basement for five years. I don't like anything. My neighborhood is ok, but on three sides the houses have some dogs and flies. Anyway, owning a house is better than living in an apartment. My father is a carpenter. I know how to fix some house problems. I like painting and gardening too. By the way, I am from Tokyo, Japan. I lived near Tokyo Bay. Twenty years ago, I could see some ships from my house but right now there are a lot of big, tall buildings there. Tokyo Bay has fireworks shows in the summer. Now we can see only half a circle of fireworks. Before we could see Tokyo Disneyland's fireworks show too.--Ako |
| I've lived in San Francisco in the same place for four and a half years. My family rents an apartment. The apartment is big and has three rooms and a big kitchen. In the building where I live there are six apartments. My neighbors are all American people. A lot of them work in computer companies. One neighbor works as a babysitter. She is very friendly. The place is not so good where I live. On the street there are a lot of cars and I can't sleep in the evening. I dream of another apartment, but this apartment is cheap. I really like San Francisco, because in my city it's too cold. In my native country the city where I lived a long time is Omsk. San Francisco and Omsk are very different cities. San Francisco is a very beautiful city, with good weather, downtown, museums, and beaches. San Francisco is a world city. When I studied in Russia I learned about San Francisco, because this city is historic.--Iosif |
| I live in San Francisco, in the Sunset area. I have a three-bedroom house. My neighbors are very nice and quiet. My place is very convenient. We have the 29 bus and N Judah a block away. Also, near my house there are Chinese supermarkets and Safeway. I like my area and my neighbors, but I don't like San Francisco houses very much because they are very old. The weather is so cold and it's always foggy. The good thing is the environment is so nice; we don't have bad air pollution. In my native country, the houses are nice and it's not foggy, but the air pollution is so bad and it's so crowded. Actually, I like San Francisco better.--Julliana |
| Living in San Francisco is much different from my native country, but I like both places in different ways. In San Francisco, I live on 39th Avenue in the Richmond, an area which I love because my house is near Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach. I like the two places near my house. If I have spare time, I will walk to Golden Gate Park or Ocean Beach so that I can relax. I feel comfortable. And I like the environment in the Richmond. It's quiet and the air is clear. There are plenty of trees and flowers, and I can always listen to the birds sing. It's hard to see that in my native city, which is a business city. There are plenty of buildings around my apartment. Sometimes the cars and buses make noise to disturb you when you stay at home. Although my native city is like this, I like it very much, but the love is different from San Francisco.--Ricky |
| I live in an apartment in the Richmond. There are two bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen and a living room. It's not too big, but for my family it's enough because my family has three people, my husband, my son, and myself. It's a nice place because there are a lot of businesses nearby, so when I want to buy something or want to eat something I don't need to drive. However, the Richmond is a busy place. When I go back home I need to take more time to find a parking space. Sometimes if I can find a parking space in a short time, I feel that it is my lucky day. My neighbor is very nice. She is Chinese. Sometimes she'll cook something special and share it with me, so I like her so much. My native country is Hong Kong. Hong Kong living places are smaller than San Francisco, so except for the size there is not a big difference, but I like living in San Francisco more than Hong Kong because San Francisco is cleaner.--Cynthia |
| We (my husband and I) are living in a big twelve-story building in the center of San Francisco on Laguna Street near the Civic Center. The building has two elevators, but sometimes I like to walk up for the exercise. We are living on the fourth floor. We have a one-bedroom apartment: One small bedroom (It is not only our bedroom, but also a study with a desk and a computer for my husband's work) and one nice living-dining room combined with a kitchen. We have already gotten used to it, although it would be better if we had a separate kitchen. Unfortunately, we don't have a balcony, but we have a wonderful view of the city and mountains, especially at night. Our apartment is sunny, quiet and cozy. There is a lot of sun after 4 pm. Overall it is in good condition. We are living in an international building. There are a lot of Americans, Afro-Americans, Chinese, and Russians. All the people are very friendly. Sometimes we get together in the community dining room to communicate and drink coffee or tea. In my native country we also lived in the center of St. Petersburg, but our life was different. As for me, it is interesting to live a different life, and it is interesting to get to know the American way of life and American culture.--Berta |
| I lived in an apartment in Russia. There are a few differences between apartments in San Francisco and apartments in Moscow. Usually we have a separate kitchen and more beautiful building designs. In Russia, if you have two rooms in your apartment it's called a two-bedroom apartment. A two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco has three rooms; two bedrooms and a living room. I used to live in a one-bedroom apartment In Russia. There were two rooms and a bathroom, but the toilet was separate and there was a separate kitchen. I liked my apartment a lot because I lived there a very long time. That place became very familiar to me. I remember my childhood with my twin sister there. It was one of the best times in my life.--Julia |
| I have lived in an apartment building since 1998. My neighborhood has a very good location and it is convenient for seniors because there are several buses nearby. However this neighborhood has some serious problems. It's dangerous sometimes, and noisy day and night. There are many young people on the street who don't work and stay every day selling drugs. I think now the situation is becoming better because there are a lot of new restaurants and businesses appearing in this neighborhood and many other people visit them. I hope that very soon my neighborhood will be a good, quiet and clean place.--Lyudmila |
| I live in a small one-bedroom apartment with my husband. I like my apartment because it is on the roof and I have a lot of light and a little view. I live a ten-minute walk from school. It's a nice neighborhood because it's quiet and my neighbors are nice. What I dislike is that we don't have a garage and the apartment is just a little too small but it's okay. When I came to San Francisco i thought that we would live in a worse place, but we found this apartment in five days and it's really better than I thought.--Laeticia |
| I live in a house with my parents and one sister. My house is not too big, but it's not small either. On the first floor we have two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, and the living room. On the second floor, we have one bedroom with a bathroom, and the garage. I don't like San Francisco houses because they are too close to each other. I like my neighborhood and sometimes I talk with my neighbors. My neighborhood has a supermarket and a lot of other stores.--Cristina |
| We live in an apartment. We've been here for five years now. It is a small studio type with a little room, kitchen and bathroom. We like the place where we are living. It is very convenient for me and my husband. It has easy access to the farmer's market across the street, and it's walking distance to the mall, church, and going to school. Our neighborhood has Chinese, American, and Mexican people. They are all very friendly, good, and nice to us. We know them well. Sometimes they will invite us for gatherings. Actually, there's a big difference for me between living in my own native coutnry and living here in San Francisco, because in my native country, I had a nice house and a big backyard that I could plant vegetables, flowers, and fruit trees in. We raised some livestock on the farm. Living here in San Francisco it's hard to have a big house and a huge backyard.--Maribeth |
| I live in the Sunset. It is a neighborhood in San Francisco near the beach and Golden Gate Park. My neighbor is Russian. She is friendly. I like this place because it's quiet, has fresh air, and I have a good neighbor. However, most of the time it is too foggy, which I don't like. In my native country, I lived downtown where there is too much noise and too much pollution from cars. However, it was very convenient. There were many stores, restaurants, a shopping mall, theater and supermarket in our neighborhood. It is very different, but I like my home in America.--Emily |
| I live in the Richmond. There is a beach and park (Golden Gate Park) nearby. I like my place because I usually go to the park and beach, especially when I miss my hometown. I go to the beach and I think that it is my hometown at the end of the beach. My neighbor is very kind. One of my neighbors is the Chinese Buddhist temple, so sometimes we talk about Buddhism and food and culture. I love my place except for the weather. My place has heavy fog. I heard that the weather is important to some people, and if the weather is foggy and rainy all day, they will be depressed.--Giryun. |
| In San Francisco, my family rents a flat on the third floor. Every month we pay the rent on time. I don't have any private parties. Every day is very quiet. My wife and I, my daughter and daughter-in-law, my grandson and granddaughter stay there. In the morning they always go to work or go to school and only come back home at night. Sometimes, the children run and play. The landlord lives on the second floor. They don't have any children. They feel the voices are loud and get very angry and make a call to me. Sometimes my grandchildren walk fast and run. The landlord complains again and again. When she calls on the phone my children feel very afraid. My son and daughter said she must be crazy. I don't think so. I know the landlord doesn't have children so they don't understand what children want or what children like.--Tony |