Now, where were we? Oh yes! We moved into our apartment on Saturday. It's in the South of the city in the "nicer part of the city". Where in the hell was Ruby looking? I can tell you with the utmost authority that this is most definitely not one of the nicest parts of Gwang-ju. If anything, it's in the bona fide ghetto. There are 3 buildings in our complex. There aren't any security doors here so anyone can just sashay their way in here and try to open our door (which has happened- more on that later). Our apartment is in the last building. It is located on the 7th floor (there are 14 floors in all 3 buildings). Our apartment is next to the elevator. We have the immense pleasure of hearing everyone make their way to the elevator in the mornings. Our apartment has 2 bedrooms. One room is very small. If I had to guess 7 feet wide and 10 feet deep. It's pretty tiny. The other room is 12 feet wide and 14 feet deep. It's considerably bigger. They had told us before we moved there that one room had a big window with lots of light and the other had a tiny window so it was pretty dark. I told Erin that since she had all her stuff she could take the bigger room. I had nothing so I had no problem taking the little room. We then sat and thought about it. You see- If I don't get sunlight I get very depressed. Erin on the other hand is practically a vampire. She hates the sun and said whichever room was a cave was hers. We agreed. Fast forward to when we get to our apartment. Guess who got the big room? Moi. I am secretly happy cuz I have a big window and lots of light. I am careful cause I didn't want to rub it in Erin's face. Then again, Erin was pretty happy to get the Batcave as we now call it. The room's window faces the hallway in the building. There are metal bars on it. Yeah, let that sink in for a moment. Metal Bars. In the Summer, since our place doesn't have AC we will have to open all the windows, Erin will have to either keep hers shut or open it and let all the people look into her room (like they do at the zoo). Since our walls are very thin, Erin can hear everything that goes on in the hallway. The first night we were here Erin decided to sleep on the monkey mat in the living room because she was freaked out. Throughout the night people tried to yank the door open. FYI- our door opens out into the hallway. It has a deadbolt and 2 other locking mechanisms. I kept waking up that night because there were many eerie noises coming from the other side of the walls and from the hallway. All I kept thinking was of scenes from The Grudge. Throughout the night I debated whether I should have taken our Santoku knife from the kitchen and slip it under my monkey mat. Did I ever tell you guys that I barely if ever watch scary movies. This is exactly why.
We have our own kitchen with 2 burner stove. It's a Gas stove. Did I ever tell you that my parent's instilled a fear in me since childhood that gas stoves can explode? That's what went through my head when I saw it. I got over that fear mighty quickly when I realized that I was now able to eat 3 full meals a day. Delicious, savory, juicy meats and vegetables galore! There isn't an oven but that is A OK. We also have a refrigerator. It is a standard fridge in Korea but for Erin and I it's almost like I am an oger. I swear we tower over that thing. I feel as though I could break it at anytime. I have to kneel when pulling things from the veggie bin.
Our bathroom is also something most Americans aren't used to. There is a regular bona fide toilet, a pedestal sink, and a shower head on a wall. The floor that you bathe on is the same floor that you step on to brush your teeth as well as to pee. You see, there isn't any kind of shower or tub. Oh no, here we shower then the water splashes all over the toilet, sink, towels- everything! We now have to undress in our rooms then get in the bathroom and deposit our towels outside the door. Its kinda disgusting if you have to use the toilet cause the floors are all wet. Also, the toilet has a small window that faces the same hallway. It also has metal bars on it. Why would anyone put a window where anyone else could just pass by and look you straight in the eye (or boobs in our case)? I don't know.
Our living room is tiny. It's smaller than Erin's bedroom. Erin and I bought a monkey mat (more on that later) and four floor cushions for it. The Grunter brought us a coffee table that she clearly no longer wanted so we use this as our dining table. It's kinda neat but after a while of sitting this way it is literally a pain in the butt. I feel as though my butt bones may break. I don't know how people here do it. Maybe they are born with some sort of butt pad. I miss chairs. I used to take them for granted in the States but not anymore. If you are reading this blog and are sitting down on a wonderful sofa, cushiony armchair, or even a good old fashioned wooden chair then I envy you.
We also have a tiny balcony where we have our washing machine. We don't have a dryer which is an inconvenience but we can manage. The problem is when we do a load then the other person has to wait cause there isn't enough space on the drying rack. If it rains then it takes even longer for our clothes to dry. Either ways at least we have clean clothes and I don't smell like a mountain goat anymore.
I have much more to say but it'll have to wait cause...well...I'm friggin' tired. Kimchi!
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