House Hunters International - General Discussion

[BearlyThere]

Hello all! First time poster, long time lurker here.  I loved the show about the family who went to Zambia so the husband could follow his work.  I was curious about Zambia and so did a wee bit of research which led me to the blog the young wife has written.  There was another reason they went to Zambia which she addressed in her blog, and it is a very beautiful and touching story.  They are a lovely family who truly touched my heart.  If you decide to read more about them I am including a link to her blog, just make sure to read through all the entries (it won't take long) to learn the outcome of their stay there. 

 

http://lifewithkinzenbaws.blogspot.com/2014/03/house-hunters-internationalwhat.html

 

 

[DownTheShore]

Hello, and welcome! =)

 

That was an interesting link.  Thanks for posting it.  It's always interesting to find out what happens with the people we see on the show.

[mojito]

Michigan to Guam. Pilot, wife, 7 year old daughter

 

It's rare that I find myself rooting so much for a particular property. The wife wanted to simplify their lives in Guam and liked a beachfront condo that was only 900+ square feet. Husband wanted a bigger place so they could fit all their Michigan stuff. I got the impression that the wife would've been happy to leave all that stuff behind. She was not overly critical about the larger property and made positive comments about all the places, but maintained all along that she did not want the maintenance of a larger rental.

 

She won. I was happy she did and glad to hear that they were happy with their small space ($1200 under budget). They didn't insist on a second bathroom and neither one of them mentioned having a room for guests. I don't think they once uttered the words "updated", "stainless steel", "office", "pool". No comments about closet space, bath tub, or double sinks. This couple apparently forgot that they were Americans and that they were on House Hunters. Now they spend a lot of home time outdoors and travel throughout the region.

[BearCat49]

Hello, and welcome! =)

 

That was an interesting link.  Thanks for posting it.  It's always interesting to find out what happens with the people we see on the show.

 

Agreed, thanks for posting.  BTW, DownTheShore, you asked about a few couples, earlier.  Happened to see something the other day but neglected to save it - the Roatan couple (6 day relationship, supposedly) is still together and working at the dive shop.  The gf pens some sort of an ex-pat advice blog.

 

P.S.  My bet is that the one LDS wife (England, auto designer husband) has started her family by now -

Edited October 25, 2014 by BearCat49

[BearCat49]

The Kansas City couple moving to South Africa episode that is airing right now. She is saying their baby is due in six weeks and where will they live, etc. She has a blog and they have lived there since May 2013.

 

She was totally unbelievable during the episode - blathering on about the baby due in 6 weeks, wondering where the nearest hospital was located.  Yeah, right, lady!

 

May, 2013 sounds about right.  Their episode was probably filmed about April, 2014.

[BearCat49]

I'd like to hear about the residency/work rules of the different countries; not in depth, but at least how they apply to the homeowners in question, because the assumption the show gives is that you can move to any country in the world and work there without any problems or paperwork.

 

Thought about this but I think I'd vote no on that change.  I'd prefer seeing more sights of the various int'l cities b/c the residency info's easily available, online.  If they'd show more architecture, etc. and fewer recaps and repetition, I'd be happy.

 

HGTV did air a program where they talked about some things like that and delved into the details about moving to various cities.  It was hosted by Chan (???).  IIRC, they aired about 6 episodes and did feature some HHI participants.  Can't remember her last name - will try to look the program up, later.

Edited October 25, 2014 by BearCat49

[BearCat49]

Whenever they do an HHI from Paris, why do they always use the same real estate woman? Is she the only realtor in Paris?

 

Didn't see anyone answer your questions, KLoves.  I believe you were serious, lol!

 

They have used other realtors in Paris, besides Adrian.  I don't know for sure but suspect that Adrian has a promotional deal with tptb b/c she showcases vacation rental properties available on her website.

 

Everything's a hidden commercial, right?

[KLovestoShop]

Yes, BearCat, this show is one big hidden commercial. Lol.

Personally, I didn't like the Guam wife at all. Her constant comment about having to upkeep a house/condo sounded selfish. If she were still in Michigan, she'd be taking care of that house, and considering that all three condos weren't large, I just didn't see her complaint. I mean geeze, how much time does it take during a week to keep a small condo clean, even the one with the third bedroom? There was something more going on between the husband and wife, looking more like a power struggle and she cut him off at the balls. I just got the feeling that behind it all, she didn't want to go all the way to Guam, and this was her passive-aggressive way to assert herself.

Edited October 26, 2014 by KLovestoShop

[izabella]

There was something more going on between the husband and wife, looking more like a power struggle and she cut him off at the balls. I just got the feeling that behind it all, she didn't want to go all the way to Guam, and this was her passive-aggressive way to assert herself.

 

I was wondering if she really didn't want to settle in there because she was hoping they wouldn't be staying long.  Like a smaller place would make it more temporary in her mind.

[Crisopera]

Did they mention why the Guam couple was home-schooling their daughter?  With the strong US presence there, I'd think there were American schools in which she could be enrolled.

[mojito]

 

With the strong US presence there, I'd think there were American schools in which she could be enrolled.

Guam is American. Its natives are citizens of the United States.

[DownTheShore]

I was wondering about the home schooling reason, too.  Maybe to give herself something to do in the daytime?  Or perhaps to prevent her kid from settling in in Guam and giving her husband more reason to keep them there, if the previously mentioned passive-aggressive theory is correct?  And if so, then probably that's why she wasn't pushing for extra bedrooms for guests. 

 

"Oh, I miss my family sooooo much!!"

[BearCat49]

When I've checked out HHI participants, most of them only accept a corporate transfer to relocate for a relatively short, fixed period of time, e.g. 12-18 months.  HHI magically forgets to mention it b/c it's far less glamorous than their concocted storylines about giving up everything to move 8K miles away - or whatever.

 

I doubt the Guam wife would have been happy with such a small place on a permanent basis.  And, if they weren't staying forever and weren't regular homeschoolers, perhaps she hoped to keep her daughter up with her class at home in Michigan instead of having her adjust to a new school.

 

WRT her complaints about "maintenance", in the Pacific islands, ex-pats can usually obtain housekeeping services at an extremely low hourly rate.  So that isn't usually a major concern, IMHO.

 

Perhaps I missed it but I didn't sense any major tension between the spouses other than the regular HHI back and forth.  Assumed they were taking the place closest to the beach, i.e. the wife's preference, since she'd be stuck there.  And, it was obvious to me that was already their place.

 

I didn't notice but maybe those two were better actors than most HHI participants!

 

Anyway, JMHO.

Edited October 27, 2014 by BearCat49

[Taylorh2]

I also didn't get her beef about having to clean a larger home. The entire time she was complaining, I was wondering why she never though about hiring a cleaning service. Her husband is a pilot for christ sake. I'm sure they can afford it.

[Taylorh2]

Computer glitch.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Taylorh2

[mojito]

I suspect the homeschooling probably served to keep the wife busy and ease the daughter into the new culture. Perhaps homeschooling also fit in with all their travel plans.

[joanofarch4]

I think the "I gave up everything to move here with you, so I get everything I want" blackmailing between spouses is fairly common here.

[awaken]

I find it amusingly annoying how in the international episodes, they always want "a cozy English cottage", a traditional island home, or something with a lot of history and character, yet when shown those original, historical type houses, they complain about the original, historical features, like lack of closets, smaller rooms, fewer bathrooms, etc.  They love the idea of something authentic but not the reality of it.  What they really want is a huge American style house plopped on an island or the coast of france.

[mojito]

 

What they really want is a huge American style house plopped on an island or the coast of france.

And once they get that, all they need are a few arched thresholds and a view of something local, and they're good to go.

Edited October 28, 2014 by mojito

[BearCat49]

I suspect the homeschooling probably served to keep the wife busy and ease the daughter into the new culture. Perhaps homeschooling also fit in with all their travel plans.

 

JMHO but homeschooling may be more effective at keeping children away from a local culture!  That's the reasoning all of our homeschooling friends have given us, anyway, lol.  It's a ton of work for parents, however.

 

Guam schools, in general, have a poor reputation, from what friends have told us.  The military actually started its own school on/near the base after they discovered their kids would end up 1-2 years behind after reintegration in schools elsewhere. 

 

So, if a parent doesn't care to do either the international school or go the parochial school route, homeschooling may be it, especially if they'll only be away from Michigan for a year or so.

Edited October 28, 2014 by BearCat49

[caci]

I just watched an episode where a family was moving from Paris to London.  Nice change since I only ever seem to see Londoners moving to the more "cultured" Paris.  However, the two little girls didn't seem to have any French accent at all.  The mom mentioned growing up in Missouri and that's what I was hearing in the accents, midwestern.   It doesn't seem that they lived in France that long, even though that was the impression.

 

The episode itself - kind of meh.  Nothing really stood out.  They seemed like a nice enough couple without a lot of hangups.  Nice but, truthfully, a bit boring.

[TVForever]

I just watched an episode where a family was moving from Paris to London.  Nice change since I only ever seem to see Londoners moving to the more "cultured" Paris.  However, the two little girls didn't seem to have any French accent at all.  The mom mentioned growing up in Missouri and that's what I was hearing in the accents, midwestern.   It doesn't seem that they lived in France that long, even though that was the impression.

 

I noticed that too, about the children's lack of ANY French accent. However, if the mother has been their primary caregiver at home (presumably with Dad being the "go to the office" parent), and she has only spoken English to them, I could see this happening. Many bilingual families do this in our area. Each parent speaks to the children in their native language, and the kids tend to take on the accent/inflections of the parent they're with the most.

I liked this episode too- they both seemed like fairly down to earth people with realistic expectations. For a family with kids, I think their choice was the best for them. I liked the mews house too.

[abbyzenn]

Every now and then I see an episode where I really envy the life of the couple and the Paris to London episode was one of those. 

 

It was interesting to see the two houses in London since I think In London itself we've only see flats.  I did really like the house they chose. 

 

I also noticed that the children did not have an accent when speaking English.  Since the father was French you'd think they would have gone to French schools but there was no mention of the girls schooling.  Although I liked the couple, the girls did seem like two "princesses".

[joanofarch4]

For those of you who love the HHI shows set in Paris, check out this article that was on the BBC website about what living in those beautiful aparment houses is really like;  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27502469

 

Makes you think twice about those beautiful parquet floors - lol.

The case for renting first...

[laredhead]

Just saw the Paris to London episode and I liked the realtor.  He got in a couple of zingers that were funny.  Interesting to hear the wife say she liked the toilet in a separate room because we have heard so many Americans going to Europe be seemingly horrified to find a set up like that.  I think it's an excellent idea, because you can maximize the usage of a one bathroom apartment with that type of arrangement.  A person can be showering in one area while leaving the toilet free to be used at the same time in another room.  The house they chose was nice, probably better than what they had in Paris because they mentioned that they had no outside space there.

[Quof]

Presactly.  I've never understood why a separate toilet room freaks them out.  Now a toilet in a room without a sink, now that is gross.  And, no, hand sanitizer is not an acceptable substitute.

[TVForever]

I like that London realtor; he's sort of becoming the "go to" London guy much like Adrian Leeds has become the realtor in all of the France episodes. Hope we get more of him in future episodes.

[DownTheShore]

Toby (I forget his last name) has mastered the art of ironic deference.  I'm sure he must just want to bang his head into a wall after dealing with some of the house hunters we've seen.

 

There seems to be a pattern with a lot of the English shows.  They want to be close to transportation to get to work quicker, but they always wind up choosing the place that requires the breadwinner to travel the furthest distance - have you noticed that?  They want the English country feel, but show them a bit a lawn and they blanche at the thought of having to take care of it.  (Which always makes me question how the men were raised - didn't they ever have to do any kind of yard or repair work with their parents when they were kids?)  None of them seem to realize how unique it is to get offered a property within London that actually has some usable outside area.  And if the guy of the couple is English, then he always seems to want to stay in one area of London that he is totally familiar with, even if his partner wants to live somewhere else, and even if the place looks skeevy.

[aguabella]

 

Aaaanyway, here's the rant part:  When they went back for the final section where they show them in their new house they did this whole segment with the dad going to the grocery story and he was complaining about how long it takes him to shop compared to America cause he can't read any of the labels.  But they specifically said that they had been there "several months" at this point.  "Several months" and you still haven't figure out the French or Dutch word for "milk"?  It's not rocket science!  I mean, I get being confused at first, cause I certainly was as well, even though I was taking language classes.  But after "several months"?  Yeah, I could handle the basics of the grocery store and even carry on brief conversations by that point.  And this was BEFORE cell phones with internet access that allow you to look words up. So that really irked me, because it means that either a) this guy is really, really stupid (a possibility I'm not ruling out); or b) he is following the time-honored example of Americans everywhere who basically refuse to learn the local language and expect everyone to speak in English and all signs and labels to be in English (much more likely). 

 

I ran into more than a few of these types during my years there; it was especially common with military families, even the ones who lived in the community among "real people" as opposed to on the base where they didn't have to mix with the locals.  I just never figured out how they survived?  I mean, I'm not saying you have to be fluent (I never was, not conversationally anyway; I was and still am able to read Dutch fairly fluently), but you'd think you'd want to make an effort to at least learn enough to make your life easier.   

 

So in summary: Americans suck.  Not that that's a newsflash for anyone who's watched this show.

 

It doesn't matter what the onscreen banner states:  In general, HHI doesn't return later to do a follow-up story.  They film an entire episode over a relatively short period of time to save costs.  The time stated on the banner is simply a figment of some intern's imagination.  So, at that point, the language probably was new to that particular house hunter.

 

Also, the military people must be used to living on base among other military families for only a year or two at a time.  So, they probably don't make that much of an effort to assimilate within the local culture.  Personally, I would hope they'd try but I have a feeling they probably don't b/c they usually don't have to.

Oh, my; I could not believe that woman (being financed by her parents) in Paris turned down that ADORABLE studio with the wall mural, massive balcony with iconic view, and enchanting bathroom...  My suspicion was that it was because the mural artist was more talented than she...  Paris is wasted on the wrong people!

 

It may not have been available when she did her actual, real life house hunt.

[aguabella]

I love traveling and wish I could do more.  But I am usually over it after awhile and am ready to come home.  I watch HHI and see people going to another country to live and wonder how long they stay actually stay there.  The vacation people I get.  The ones who say they permantly want to move, I'm curious about.  I mean, they say how new and exciting everything is, but doesn't the extra ordinary becomes ordinary after awhile?  Can't you get just as bored and just as stressed in a foreign country?  Even in a tropical one with all the surf and sun?  I've aways wondered how many of the house hunters move back home once the excitement wears off and they become lonely for family.  Also, it's one thing to maybe vacation in a place where you can't speak the language, but long term must be tough after awhile.  I would just really love to know how many stay and how many go back to wherever they were from.

 

After seeing many blog posts, I believe most of the HHI participants have taken a short-term (a year or so) assignment from their current employer.  For some reason, the producers don't believe that's interesting or dramatic enough so they have to twist the story to make it appear that they're giving everything up, packing it all in to pull up stakes and move abroad.

[Bastet]

In general, HHI doesn't return later to do a follow-up story.  They film an entire episode over a relatively short period of time to save costs.  The time stated on the banner is simply a figment of some intern's imagination.  So, at that point, the language probably was new to that particular house hunter.

 

Unless it was one of the many international episodes in which the HHs had already lived in the country for a good while at the time of filming.

[aguabella]

Unless it was one of the many international episodes in which the HHs had already lived in the country for a good while at the time of filming.

 

From what I've seen, that's not happening as much these days b/c they're receiving many more HHI applications.  (Actually, WRT the applications, that's my guess.)  Those were HHI early days. 

 

In addition, tptb don't seem to be soliciting as much from the blogs so we aren't seeing as many consecutive episodes featuring fundamentalist missionaries, followed by multiple online travel agents relocating and so on ...

 

Yes, some of the HHI participants have already returned home by the time their episode airs about 6 months later and a few of us review their blogs. 

Edited November 1, 2014 by aguabella

[aguabella]

 

 

Every episode should begin with a brief overview of the basic rules for residency and property ownership in the country being featured. It would not take any more time than the constant recaps. I would find it interesting, do any other HHI fans think so?

 

The HGTV program that delved into some of those issues was called Living Abroad.  IIRC, they had some HHI participants appear.  The hostess was Chi-Lan Lieu.  She actually visited countries, possibly 2 per episode, and talked to residents.  It only lasted a season so that may be explain why tptb haven't added that info to HHI.

 

Here's the show page from the HGTV website, see below.  Check your dvr - I believe they're repeating it in the early a.m., one day a week.

 

http://www.hgtv.com/living-abroad/show/index.html

[Sims Addict]

Did anyone catch the episode about the couple with two young boys in Australia? He was from Canada and they had been living with her parents until he found work. I know they get direction from the producers to play up the drama, but this guy kept harping on how much he didn't want to buy a property close to her parents. I get it, after being on your own it's hard to lose some independence and privacy by moving back to the nest, but this guy mentioned it all the time. At some point I thought, he does realize that his in-laws will see this episode, right? One or two throw-away lines, I understand. But he was adamant about keeping the distance...and, of course, they picked the property farthest away from her folks. To me that would be quite an awkward holiday dinner if I basically went on national T.V. and verbalized repeatedly that I didn't want to be saddled with them "dropping by unannounced." I'm not saying the feeling isn't valid, just don't say it ad nauseum on T.V., man!

[aemom]

I was going through eps on my PVR and I was watching the episode with a flight attendant who was moving to Botswana to help start up an airline.  Her mom flew in to help her find a place.  Her budget was a strict $600/month.

I saw the 3 places that she visited, and then after the commercial break, HGTV started a new episode without finishing the one I was watching.  "Epic fail!" as my kids would say.

I never saw which one she picked and how it was going with her.

First ep I ever saw in Botswana so I found it rather interesting.  Does anybody remember this one?  What happened?

[BearCat49]

Did anyone catch the episode about the couple with two young boys in Australia? He was from Canada and they had been living with her parents until he found work. I know they get direction from the producers to play up the drama, but this guy kept harping on how much he didn't want to buy a property close to her parents. I get it, after being on your own it's hard to lose some independence and privacy by moving back to the nest, but this guy mentioned it all the time. At some point I thought, he does realize that his in-laws will see this episode, right? One or two throw-away lines, I understand. But he was adamant about keeping the distance...and, of course, they picked the property farthest away from her folks. To me that would be quite an awkward holiday dinner if I basically went on national T.V. and verbalized repeatedly that I didn't want to be saddled with them "dropping by unannounced." I'm not saying the feeling isn't valid, just don't say it ad nauseum on T.V., man!

 

I was thinking the same thing.  He mentioned it multiple times.

 

One thing about the in-laws seeing the episode, however - don't know about Australia but often, internationally, participants state on their blogs that they have to wait to receive a dvr from the producers in order to see the episode.  Or, they Skype in to families and friends in the U.S. to watch the episode.  So, they're apparently not shown routinely, overseas. 

 

OTOH, his wife heard him, loud and clear!  That can't be a good thing!

[BearCat49]

I was going through eps on my PVR and I was watching the episode with a flight attendant who was moving to Botswana to help start up an airline.  Her mom flew in to help her find a place.  Her budget was a strict $600/month.

I saw the 3 places that she visited, and then after the commercial break, HGTV started a new episode without finishing the one I was watching.  "Epic fail!" as my kids would say.

I never saw which one she picked and how it was going with her.

First ep I ever saw in Botswana so I found it rather interesting.  Does anybody remember this one?  What happened?

 

That's an older episode so you must have seen a rerun.  I remember it vaguely.  IIRC, her 3 choices were fairly nondescript so I don't remember the details.

 

If you find the show page on the HGTV website, you can check for future showings.  (Typically you start at the HHI page and then drill down to that episode.) 

 

Here's the show page but I don't see another showing.  So, if you're interested, unless another viewer remembers more detail, you can check this space again, for future showings.

 

http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/in-flight-director-crosses-into-uncharted-territory-and-searches-for-space-in-gaborone-botswana/index.html

 

BTW, I don't remember the episode cutting out early during its original airing.

 

Good Luck!

Edited November 3, 2014 by BearCat49

[BearCat49]

Here's a little more info that popped into my head WRT locating HH and HHI episodes:

 

Another way to locate episodes is by pulling their episode name and Season # from tvguide.com.  If some time has passed, it can be much tougher, especially with as many episodes as the HH franchise airs, to locate show pages.  Typically, you need, at minimum, the season number to locate an episode on hgtv.com.

 

If you don't have it, you can find the next HHI airing on tvguide.com and drill down to TV Guide's HHI episode listing.  (TV Guide's list, a great resource, includes the original air date, episode title and number.)  Using a keyword (I used Botswana, for this search), I noticed that HHI had only 1 recent episode with that key word in its title.  And, the episode was "In-Flight Director ... Botswana".  Ding, ding, ding!

 

So, that told me the episode occurred during Season 61, allowing me to find the show page on hgtv.com.  Naturally, like most episodes, HGTV assigned it two separate, distinct episode numbers.  It was known as Season 61, Episode 2 on dvr episode descriptions.  On the show page, however, it's officially Episode HHINT-6103H.  Go figure! 

 

That's probably more info than anyone wanted but the next time you're looking, find this post, lol!

[DownTheShore]

I can picture that Botswana episode, but for the life of me I can't remember which one she chose.  That was one of those, IIRC, that all of the places she looked at seemed very similar to one another

[Bellalisa]

That guy in Australia repeated over and over how much he despised the in-laws. It was downright rude. He would say things like "we can't live here it's too close to your parents and they could drop in!'- then yes I love this house it's really far from  your parents, thank god! then at the beginning he said "we've been forced to live with her parents, which totally sucks, it's a real nightmare". dude, get a little self-awareness. That's people you are talking about to a TV CAMERA!!

[DownTheShore]

Just saw an episode where the older couple was buying a place in some Spanish-speaking country (I came in after it started and didn't catch which country it was).  I can't believe that they took the condo in that monster condo towers development instead of that house that was right on the beach (I know, it probably wasn't available but still).

 

I just don't get the people who cavil about living 15 minutes away from those little Mexican/Central American towns, as if they were going to be Earth-to-Moon distance from them.  They talk about dining and shopping there as if there were 5-star restaurants and Rodeo Drive-style shopping littering the place.  I mean, once you've been to the local taqueirias a few times and wandered through the local arts-and-crafts shops, how important is going into town really going to be?

[NYGirl]

It was a small town in Mexico, DowntheShore, and I agree with you.  You can find those condo/hi rises in every single town.  The house on the beach was fabulous and I know he wanted it badly but the wife HAD to have her "ameneties" as she stated over 100 times.  I knew he didn't have a chance.

[DownTheShore]

Thanks for letting me know it was Mexico; I thought that might be it but wasn't sure.  Those condo towers in that development were huge!  Yeah, that really felt so vacation-y - not.

 

That wife was so annoying about that house.  This  would have to be gutted, that would have to be gutted.  It was perfectly livable the way it was.  She should have looked at the renovations as something to keep her occupied while her husband got the solitude he craved.  There should have been nothing stopping her from hopping into a car and going into "town" whenever she craved other human contact; though I bet she's the kind of person who needs her husband to be nearby at all times.  That beach house had all the room they needed, was right on the beach, and there was a row of houses alongside it going up and down the beach.  How isolated could that be? 

 

And another thing that drives me bonkers - these people pay all this money for oceanside living, and then they spend their time sitting around a pool!  They could do that wherever they came from.  Let's see: sun, sand, ocean waves vs. sun, concrete & chlorine.  Hmm.....

Edited November 8, 2014 by DownTheShore

[BearCat49]

That guy in Australia repeated over and over how much he despised the in-laws. It was downright rude. He would say things like "we can't live here it's too close to your parents and they could drop in!'- then yes I love this house it's really far from  your parents, thank god! then at the beginning he said "we've been forced to live with her parents, which totally sucks, it's a real nightmare". dude, get a little self-awareness. That's people you are talking about to a TV CAMERA!!

 

I couldn't believe how rude he was - and he said it repeatedly.  That one didn't appear to be producer-driven.

 

Guess that tells us Australia doesn't air HHI??  Well, when they receive their video from the production company ... they might not want to show it to the in-laws.  His wife, however, may have been hurt.

[wisteria]

The couple moving to Malaysia brought us a new twist on the guest bedroom stupidity: they needed TWO guest rooms because both sets of parents might be visiting at the same time.

 

Yeah.

[KLovestoShop]

The single mother who moved from Hawaii to Costa Rica was interesting. It takes a lot of guts to sell everything you own to move to a foreign country. But there's one thing that bugged me about her----how many dirty dishes does a 5 year old generate? The mom kept saying that no dishwasher was a deal breaker because of the 5 year old.

[DownTheShore]

I love my dishwasher, but for most of my life I didn't have one, so I just don't get those single people or couples who say that not having a dishwasher is a deal-breaker. People, that's why you have hands! A meal for one or two doesn't generate that many dirty dishes, after all. And if you're going to have a lot of people over, then plastic is the way to go. ;->

[NYGirl]

The single mom was a rerun.  I shook my head when she complained that the first one was on the ground floor and she was afraid of her daughter and the pool.  The kid is 5 years old!! 

 

I dozed off so I don't even remember which one she chose.

[abbyzenn]

Just saw the Edinburgh one (English husband/US wife, 2 little girls).  What gorgeous apartments.  Couldn't believe how large the rooms were.  The couple didn't get the HH handbook because they didn't do much complaining at all.

I don't get the refrigerator not in the kitchen - have now seen this several times.  In one of the Edinburgh apartment, there were 2 refrigerators in a pantry like room next to the kitchen but that kitchen was certainly big enough to have a refrigerator in it.

[Bastet]

I liked that one, but involuntarily cringed every time someone pronounced Edinburgh with a long O at the end.