My New Apartment

My apartment is pretty nice if a bit sparce. In Korea they call it a "studio" apartment. It is what we would call a "bachelor" apartment. It is one room and you can lie in bed and look at your kitchen cupboards. But, I like it. It is bright and clean and has a lot of built in cabinets and closets. This sure helps keep the place looking decent when you eat, sleep, and live all in one room.

The major thing that bothers me is that I am lacking even the most basic of supplies. I've taught in Korea for 3 years now and I know not to expect too much from my "housing" but this time out did it's self. There isn't a cup, a knife a fork or a chopstick. There is no chair for the built in desk. Why there isn't even a toilet brush or a broom and dustpan.

So I went out and bought some things that I needed like a kettle [to boil the water before it's safe for consumption] and a plate and a knife, fork and spoon and a pair of chop sticks. I will have to buy more bedding yet as it's still quite cold here. I didn't expect to have to spend my entire first pay check [which I have yet to receive] just to make this place liveable.


Oh well, I am starting to complain and I just got here. So, here are some pictures of my apartment [after I added lots of things to it already]:

This is a picture of the one room. Notice my clothes drying rack in the back of the room in front of the window. There are no clothes driers in Korea - at least not that I have ever seen. It is called 건 조 대 [Kan Jo Dae]. There wasn't one provided in my apartment so late one night after doing a wash I had to go searching for one and of course I didn't know what it was called. I did a lot of charades and mimicing hanging clothes out and I did know the words for washing machine and clothes and later. So, I said the equilivant of "after" "washer" "clothes" and the English words "dry" and "hanger" and luckily "hanger" is the same in Korean and I actually found what I was looking for at a large department store near my house called MegaMart. It cost 18,200 won or a little over $20.00 Canadian.

Notice my bed is just a mattress on the floor. This is nice in the winter as the heating system is a series of pipes that run hot water under the floor so the floor gets lovely and warm. However, I just can't seem to get used to it sleeping on the floor. I think sometime soon I will try and find a used bedframe somewhere - if it's not too expensive. I don't want to invest in a lot of stuff when every year I move to a new apartment when I sign a new contract.

This is a shot of the kitchen part of my apartment. The washer is the a Tromm brand front load washer. I like it as it gets the clothes pretty dry so that when I hang them on the drying rack they are dry in just a day - even jeans. The down side is that front load washers require a special soap and it's pretty expensive. I had to pay 14,000 won [approximately $ 15.50 Canadian]. It had better go a long way and last a least 4 or 5 months.

There is no real counter space and I don't have a table just a desk and chair. The fridge and freezer are a good size and are hidden in the cupboard to the right of the sink. The stove is two gas burners. I love cooking with gas. After I got over my fear of leaks and explosions [and I don't even smoke] I have come to adore it. It is so fast whenever I use an electric stove now I get so impatient waiting for things to cook and the kettle to boil.

This is a picture of my bathroom shower. It is just shower head hanging on the wall. There is a drain in the middle of the bathroom floor where the water goes. This bathroom is nicer than my last one since there is a glass wall that keeps the toilet [located directly to the right of the wall] from getting wet.

This shows the drain in the middle of the bathroom floor and my clear plastic bathroom shoes. Since the entire bathroom gets wet when I shower, I have to wear these shoes for hours after when entering the bathroom [until the bathroom is dry] to keep from slipping and falling and to keep my socks dry.

In Korea you will find plastic shoes to wear to the bathroom in almost every restaurant and apartment in Korea. The upside is that that bathroom is always clean cause it gets washed daily.

I have a fancy toilet that even has a bidet feature. However, it is all in Korean and since I don't know how to use it I unplugged it so that I don't get any nasty little surprises by accidently hitting the wrong button. It has a regular flush so I was able to do this - and now it acts just like a regular toilet. In some Western restaurants I've seen the same kind of electronic toilets and in the winter the seats are even heated. It is just so amazing to me that I have a toilet like this in my apartment and in my school there are only squat toilets without even any toilet paper. Quite a contrast!

This is a picture of my dresser with my microwave and TV. I get cable so I have English CNN and some good stations that have movies in English and popular shows like "Sex & the City" and "Project Runway" and "Hell's Kitchen". Reality TV is alive and well in Korea.

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Well, that's my new home. I am settling in and eventually I might add some creature comforts like a bedframe and maybe even a small table and chair to eat at. For now I am fine eating in front of the TV or computer.