The Pad

So the most popular question that I have been getting is what is my apartment like. Well... I'll put it this way... it could be better, but it could also be worse!

I took some pictures when I first got here. I'll show the before and after so to speak once I get things set up a bit more so there will be a second apartment post to follow. For now though, here's the skinny:

 I am on the 10th floor of the apartment building. When my boss first brought me he pointed across the parking lot to other apartments and told me that those apartments were very good, mine was very bad. Nice... this seems promising. So when you get off the elevator you are outside and you walk down this hallway that is open (think kind of like a motel type thing). The photo is from my apartment looking down to the way that I would walk from the elevator.

You walk in to my apartment and there is a very small area to take off your shoes. Immediately to the right is my bathroom. It is old and dirty but there is a tiny bathtub that catches most of the water when I shower so that is nice, most Korean bathroom do not have bathtubs (although Jon and Krista's doesn't but is so much nicer than my bathroom that I would give up my bathtub for a bathroom like theirs). Like I said, it's pretty dirty but it has been cleaned (and I cleaned it again when I moved in) so I'll just have to get used to the dirty look.

Straight in through the door is my kitchen. They just put in the cupboards, I know this because the plastic was still on the handles and the sawdust was in the cabinets from where they screwed them in. They also purchased a brand new gas stove top for me which is very  nice. The fridge is mini, but okay for one person...if it was any bigger I would just buy more food and it would go bad. There is a tiny table and one chair as well. I'm hoping to get another chair though, if I ever do have someone over for dinner we'll be sitting on the floor if I don't.

There are sliding doors that separate the kitchen from the bedroom. The bed is small but okay for one person. It is rock hard, harder than that even. I have been sitting on it the whole time that I have been writing this post and my ass hurts, that is how hard it is. I am so glad that I brought a sheet from home because the one that was on the bed was super stained, gross. The pillow I was given was almost as hard as the bed and tiny and full of beads or beans or something.. not comfy (which is why I had to get one at Emart on Sunday).

There is a low tv stand with a tiny bit of storage underneath, but not much. This is the only storage I had when I moved in. I was given a tv, but no dvd player which I was hoping for. I hear that they are pretty expensive here so looks like I'll be watching movies on my laptop for the year. Do you like the wallpaper though? It's pretty sweet hey? I've actually seen much worse on other blogs!

Since moving in I have been given poles that have been set up for me to hang my clothes on. If I knock these poles they fall over. Super shady and it sucks. I'm hoping that I'll get given something better eventually.  I also don't have enough hangers so my stuff on the top is just draped over the bars. I'll be doing a lot of ironing here I am sure. Just think, I'll be great at it by the time I move home... if all else fails I can get a job at a laundromat! Put that Geography degree to good work! (Note: it is now about 4am and I am awake because this just came crashing down and scared the shit outta me. I kind of want to leave it so my boss sees it when he comes over next and agrees to get me something better, but then all of my clothes will be wrinkled and dirty... it's a toss up. What a horrible wake up call though.)

There are two more sliding doors and a screen door that lead to an area that has my washing machine. There is also a plant that my boss's wife gave me as a gift. But I was told on Saturday that if I didn't like it that his wife would take it back, which I wasn't sure if I would offend them by giving it back or by keeping it (I couldn't tell if she wanted it back), I just said "it's ok", which is my staple response to them now. There is a big window to outside that I have open all the time because my place is a sauna in the day time. And it's not even that warm here. It gets way hotter and more humid in the spring. I'll either have to convince my boss to get me air conditioning or to get multiple fans before then. I have been given a tutorial on what the buttons on the washing machine mean, but I still haven't tried it out yet. They did buy me a big case of Oxy Clean detergent so that's good. But I forgot to pick up Fabric softener so which I definitely need here. 

Also, in most places here you have to turn on the hot water prior to using it. Here is the thermostat/water dial thing. The heating comes up through the floor as well. There is a button that turns both on, and one that turns just hot water on. I am not sure what the other button means. I also know that there is a timer, although I'm not sure what for. I am the worst with temperatures and when I want something hot I figure if I turn it up all the way it will work faster, I have already burned myself in the shower a few times.




I'll end with just a few more random pictures:

Here are some shots through the screen at the back of my apartment

This is out my front door

A look at the usually full parking lot I walk through to get to my building.

So that's the basics of my apartment. Hopefully I get it decorated even a bit soon and make it feel a bit more like home. I'll take some pictures in a couple of months and show you all how it has changed.