Come On In

Dear neighbors,
What if it was a more serious problem?

I know I say this a lot, but I really don't have much to say. Last week was very low key and nothing except my 6 month anniversary with Korea happened. I can't even remember the funny things my students said. Anyways, here we go:

Last week, I was home for my lunch break and I was cooking clam chowder soup in the microwave. I was so excited Emart (like Walmart) got this big order of "Healthy Choice" soup and I was all over that. So, I was pretty excited for this particular lunch. As soon as it beeped, I took it out of the microwave. Then, like an idiot, I stuck my face right up near the soup and tried to take a big whiff. Unfortunately, at that same moment the soup "popped" (like some sort of hot air bubble or something). It "popped" all over my face and it was soooooo hot. My initial reaction was a scream (it wasn't like a murder scream but my tone got up there). My second thought was, "what if my neighbors heard and they come over to see if everything is ok..how am I going to explain this to them?" Initially, I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but then time passed and no one came. I thought, "Well, what if someone was trying to 'nap' me, as Jemal would say." (It's short for kidnap) Needless to say, my neighbors disappointed me this past week. But don't worry mom, the neighborhood is perfectly safe and if I ever got in trouble I would yell "119!" This is Korea's version of 911.

Exactly 6 months from last Saturday, I left 877 White Oaks Drive to start this adventure. So, in celebration, I decided to rearrange my apartment. Then as I was rearranging, I was thinking how I don't think I've ever posted pictures of my apartment. So, I had some "before" pictures and a few "after" pictures. I'm sorry it's probably not as clean as it should be, and I don't think these pictures really capture the "tinyness" of this apartment.

A few things have been done to the APT. Pictures, lamps, decorations, have been added, thanks to my most lovely sister. Although it's small, it really does feel like home. So, come on in, stay awhile, and do as the Asians do and take those shoes off at the door.

*The kitchen is to the right. I promise you, that stack of dishes is clean. The bathroom is to the left. Notice the shower shoes, you will realize the deep need for those in a second. Technically this picture is an "after" picture, but nothing has really changed.

And here's the loo. Notice the location of the shower head and lack of location of the bathtub. That's right, it gets pretty soggy in there, thus the need for the shower shoes.
Here's the "Before" of the frig and the "living room/office"The "after" which is now the "living room/Lily's bedroom."
And this is the "after" of the fridge. If you made the frig, you should feel honored, if you didn't, it's probably because we once took a picture together and I looked horrendous and I couldn't stand looking at the picture for a whole year, no hard feelings.

This is the "before" of the bedroom. When I first moved in, they said my bed was a three person bed.
The "after" of the "bedroom"
And lastly, the "after" of the bedroom/office/changing room.

So, I'm now officially on the other side of this year-long journey. On Sunday, I was talking to Mr. Oh and he says, "well, now you understand the yellow people's culture?" I'm not sure if that was a diss to himself, but I said, "yeah, I think I'm really understand the 'yellow people'." And he says, "Six more months, you will understand us more."

I thought I would feel happier about being over half way done, but this place definitely doesn't seem as "foreign" anymore and I can tell it's going to be much harder to leave than I anticipated.

I hoped you enjoyed your virtual tour of my home! Happy Tuesday! Until next week...