Our Apartment

A few people have asked us what our apartment is like here in South Korea. I know that it was something that I was really interested in before we arrived, so we decided to make a little movie to show you around... but then we couldn't figure out how to upload it to our blog. We've posted it on Facebook (sorry, McCrimmons) and added a few pictures here instead.

No shower stall or sink.

Our sleeping/lounging area.

Our kitchen and entry.

As you can probably tell, our apartment is quite small: maybe 200 square feet. We've come up with a few benefits to living where we are:

1. With no dining room, we get to eat breakfast in bed every morning!
2. The bathroom is self-cleaning (every morning when we shower the floor gets all soapy)!
3. We could clean our entire apartment blindfolded in like 15 minutes!
4. It's just down the block from the school where we teach!
5. The rent is great (free)!

Anyway, every day in Korea is another adventure. From Monday to Friday, we eat lunch with our fellow teachers at the school. So far it has been traditional Korean food and we have been enjoying it for the most part. And then today happened. We were served squid soup and a bowl of tiny, dried anchovies was placed in the middle of the table. Thousands of little eyes were looking up at me, screaming in tiny high pitched voices, "Karmen, don't eat me! Don't eat me!". I think I could have done one or the other, but together... Greg bailed me out and helped  me finish my soup (and I did not take any anchovies). I'm so thankful to have a husband that has an iron stomach and doesn't mind helping out his wife when she is served something she just can't put down (which has happened multiple times in multiple countries).

Today, we also began the process of applying for our Alien Residency Cards, which are essential to open a Korean bank account, which is necessary to get paid... The first step is a medical exam. I don't like going to the hospital or doctor in Canada in the first place. It's even more nerve-wracking/interesting when the doctors are asking questions and giving directions in Korean. So, our arms have been poked, our chests x-rayed, our hearing and sight checked and our bladders emptied. We survived. We'll get our results back in a few days.