Moving In, Again

I moved into my new apartment this Friday, and I'm pretty happy with the space! It's a studio, unlike my old apartment which was partitioned by a sliding glass door. I wasn't thrilled with this initially, but it's actually kind of nice to be able to see everything; I feel more in control of my surroundings somehow.

When I got in on Friday (sans luggage, thanks China Air!) I was dragged to work for orientation. I finally got home over 24 hours after I had boarded my first flight looking forward to a shower. I turned on the water, ran my hand under it, and nearly gave myself frostbite. You have to turn the hot water on, which was virtually impossible considering my inability to understand Korean. I basically went between pressing random combinations of buttons and running to the shower to see if it worked for about thirty minutes before, miraculously, something worked! I don't know what it was though, so I can't EVER turn it off.

I was pretty miserable when I saw the impossibly tiny closet the school provided until I went to take out some trash and found a wonderland of discarded furniture. I got a bureau in perfectly functional condition with some geometric shapes on it, and two guys from the street hauled it to my room for me. I love Korea! Other than that, I got a shoe rack, hanging bar, hangers and a drying rack from Home Plus for 75,000 Won, which is maybe $50USD. Plus some kitchen supplies in the dollar section at Lotte Mart. Success.

My building has a hair place, a few restaurants, and a 24-Hour Family Mart on the bottom floor. I realized I might be a pessimist when I was thinking about my relationship with Korean convenience stores. Each one has a small selection of items that they don't really have to carry, like kitchen scissors, adhesive hooks, tire rim polish, etc. Instead of being happy that one convenience store has it, I'm annoyed when another one doesn't. I really need an adhesive hook right now, and I don't want to walk a block to Lotte Mart. Family Mart, you failed me.