Unusually Awkward Encounter

Some people wonder what it's like living in Korea.  What happened to me 10 minutes ago is the perfect example:

Let me start by saying, I went out with coworkers last night until the wee hours of the morning.  I slept in nice and late, discussed tonight's plans with friends, and decided to check Facebook.  I was still in my pajamas when the doorbell rang.

My "apartment bill" was around $30 higher this month.  I asked my boss why and she said it was the heating bill.  I explained that I have not touched my heater.  She said that she would send the apartment man (ajoshi) to check something under my sink?  When the doorbell rang, I closed the bedroom door and ran to answer the door.  An ajumma, complete with visor, was just starting to walk away.  She came back and tried to talk to me.  I told her "Hangul ope-so." (I don't have Korean/I don't speak Korean.)  She had one of those touch screen devices in her hand and was saying "gas-uh," so I figured she wanted to check the gas.

I invited her in (gesturing) and she tried to speak some more Korean to me.  She said "gas-uh" and again I gestured for her to follow me.  Something she said or did made me wonder if she wanted to know if the gas was working.  I went to the kitchen and checked the gas.  It worked.  While I was in there she's still speaking Korean.  She's coming towards the kitchen at this point, but she's on her hands and knees.  "Is she feeling for the ondol?  I wonder." 

I point to the lit burner, to show her that the gas is in fact working.  She's halfway standing up now.  She tries to ask me something else in Korea, and I finally think to call a friend.  She says "ani, ani" (no, no.)  At this point, she starts to head back for the door CRAWLING AGAIN.  Only then do I realize she is crawling so as not to walk on my (not very clean) floor.  OMG. 

Korean tradition mandates that one remove ones shoes when entering someone's home, some restaurants, and I'm sure occasional other buildings.  Every other visitor I've had, removed their shoes and either walked in socks or slipped on the plastic sandals I keep by the door for that purpose (they've been here since I moved in.)  I personally wear my brown Old Navy flipflops around the house.  Not this lady, though.  She chose to CRAWL on her hands and knees all the way down the hallway. 

I felt so bad and was trying to tell her to stand up.  When she finally gets done crawling across my in-desperate-need-of-a-sweep floor, she stands and does the most unusual thing.  She tells me (gestures and Korean) that I have a nice face!  Ugh the horror. 

"Hey lady, thanks for coming to my country without speaking the language, inviting me into your messy home in your pajamas, and allowing me to crawl across your apartment to TRY to explain something you should probably already know, but you've got a pretty face."

I. LOVE. KOREA. 

They may have some unusual customs, but how can you fault that which makes you laugh?  I bowed and said "kamsamnida" and saw her out the door.  I still don't even know why she was here.  Well, on that note, I'm off to sweep the floor before I have any more visitors!

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” ~Mother Teresa

My Korean apartment!

OK, so I know I've taken FOREVER to post this.  The wait is finally over.  Here are some pictures of my Korean apartment:

This is my front door.  The cabinet to the right is for shoes.  In Korean houses (and some restaurants) you take your shoes off as you enter.  Mostly I change into a pair of flip flops that I leave by the door.  Sometimes I cheat and run back in with shoes on or put my shoes on while I'm getting ready. 

Shh, don't tell!

 Close up of the front door.  See how safe I am?  There is a hotel-style bar lock thingy, a dead bolt, and a regular lock.  Plus there is a locking mechanism on the screen door.  I use that because anyone can open that hole in the bottom right corner.  (Please note: this door is not super tall, that is one petite peep hole)

 Propaganda speaker OK, not really.  I have no clue what they're saying because it's in Korean.  The only time I've heard it so far was at 9:15 pm.  I was in bed.  It was very loud and angry sounding.  I was nervous that I had done something wrong and they were coming to get me...true story.  Below that is the phone where I can speak with the doorman downstairs.  The one time I needed to use it, (was trapped inside my apartment) he was not there.

This is pretty filthy looking.  I took the picture before the I scrubbed it.  This little light is so darn useful!  I push the top button and it stays on long enough for me to change my shoes and get outside, or get to the other light when I'm coming in.  Ugh so now I really want to go time it.  I'll be right back.  It stays on for 1.5 minutes.  Cool, right?

These are pictures of my "bedroom."  My bed is not currently in there.  I was told that it is better to leave the bed near the air conditioner in the summer.  So for now it is the closet room :)  It is fairly small so I think it would be a tight squeeze with the bed and wardrobe.

This is a picture of my bathroom before the massive scrub down and new caulk.  I am just so insanely excited to have a tub and not a "wet bathroom" where the shower head is on the wall and there is a drain in the middle of the floor.

 I love these "magic sponges."  The one on the left is a brand new sponge.  On the right is just ONE of the sponges after cleaning the bathroom.

Standing to the right of the fridge while looking down the hall.  The first door on the right is the bathroom. The second is the closet room.

 Standing to the left of the fridge while looking into the living room/bedroom.  The kitchen table is on the right.  There are doors on my balcony that go in the door opening here, but I like the open feel.

They left a bunch of yummy snacks on my table the first day.  I love my little, modern table!

My kitchen.  Pretty good cabinet space, but no stove.  If it can't be cooked in a pot or a pan, it's not getting cooked!

 

This is my lovely, little fridge.  Brand spanking new from LG :)

Close up of my gas burners.  I used them last night!  There was one pot and pan when I moved in.

I'm not sure who got to pick out my dishes, but they did a great job!  In this pattern, I have three bowls of different sizes, a salad plate, a dinner plate, and two mugs.  I also have another bowl that says "I love vegetables!"  I wonder if the subliminal message works...

This is my awesome bed.  The mattress is super duper firm;  like nothing you've ever experienced.  I think it's actually pretty good for my back though.  Again, whoever picked out my bedding, did a fantastic job!  That little remote is for my air conditioner :)

These are pictures of my balcony thing. I'm not sure that's what you call it, because it is flush with the outside of the building.  I don't have a dryer, but when I close both sets of doors, it gets hot enough to dry my clothes!  I didn't really take a picture of it, but there is a drying rack suspended from the ceiling.

Last, but not least:  my amazing little LG washer.  Everything is in Korean.  I don't have all the settings figured out yet, but I'm working on it.  Good thing there is a "play" button!

Alrighty, so now you've seen almost everything in my apartment.  For sake of accuracy, I took the measurements with my tape ruler.  Not including the balcony thing, my apartment is a perfect rectangle: 14 x 35 feet.  I was still jet lagged so there is a +/- 1 foot error rate. :)  From what I've heard, this is pretty big for a Korean real estate! 


Where thou art - that - is Home. ~Emily Dickinson

I Made It!

Well, I've still got a few posts prior to this one that I need to publish, but I figured it would be best to catch up later.  I'm pretty jet-lagged so cut me some slack on the grammar and spelling ;-)

I made it safely to Korea last night.  Around 11:30pm a coworker named Matt and his wife Je Yun (sp?)  met me at my apartment and got me set up.  Matt even brought stuff for pb&j, toilet paper, and a huge bottle of water.  The apartment is not nearly as tiny as I was expecting.  It has seperate areas for the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.  For now my bed is in the living room.  I asked Matt if I should move it into the living room but he said it's best to keep it where it is for now because of the "air con" (I don't know why but I love that they call it that!)

Matt and Esther (coworkers) explained that because my apartment is newly acquired by the school, they are still doing some work on it. When I got there I had a bed (with super cute comforter and pillows!) a tv and stand, table with four chairs, stove top, a wardrobe for clothes, and a cabinet by the door for shoes (already full hehe).  I'm still missing a refridgerator and washing machine.  My apartment has a shower...yay!!! I'm posting this from the school so I'll need to post pictures later.

Now Matt says that everyone needs a funny first day in Korea story so I guess that's why he helped with mine!  When we got to the aparment, the doors to my balcony were not installed.  He said "I'm a kindergarten teacher, not a handyman, but I think I can give it a whirl."  On the first try he put the doors on backwards.  I was unpacking some of my luggage when I heard a loud crash.  When trying to install the second door, he had accidently knocked the first one to the floor!  Luckily the door has two pieces of glass, one in the top and one in the bottom.  Only the bottom piece was broken.  Matt and his wife cleaned up the glass and even taped some plastic bags into the hole to keep the bugs out. 

After they left, I did a little more unpacking and went to sleep just before one.  Well, I'm off to get my health check...more to follow!