But what about the things not worth documenting? Ninety percent of our time is spent either at work or in our apartment. Contrary to the belief of many, we do have a 40 hour a week job and do not have the time nor the income to be hopping about from country to country. As much as I love experiencing new places, I would hate to forget the simple times spent in and around our apartment. So here goes.
Today's plan was to spend the day and part of Sunday on Muido Island off the coast of Incheon. We were going to go with the Ostroms and the idea was to, hopefully, get a little color on my fishbelly and light off fireworks in celebration of the 4th of July. Maybe even play a little cribbage. Who knows? We are a crazy bunch.
Unfortunately, it was raining all over the peninsula and we had received word that the ferries to the island were experiencing delays. I should mention that it is rainy season in Korea, and all of my clothes are forever damp- not so much from the rain as from the humidity. It is a hot, sticky sonofabitch, and I have adopted the seemingly unsanitary (but nonetheless necessary) habit of eschewing underpants under slacks during school days to avoid stewing in a swampy pool of stank.
We postponed our plans and opted to stay (relatively) dry at home. Mid-morning I went out and got my haircut- always an interesting experience when you don't completely speak the language or follow the trendy styles of the locals (for men that means either a long perm or a mullet). My haircut is very short and Sami doesn't like it. Oh, well. I have a month to grow it back before we visit the states. Later, I went to the gym and sweated profusely from the workout and the weather. The few Koreans inside stared at me, as they always do, in wild wonder. It is common knowledge that Koreans do not have sweat glands.
When I got home, Sami and I watched the one English channel we get on our TV- the Armed Forces Network. This channel show a mix of popular American television. Some shows I like- "The Office," "Parks and Recreation," "The Simpsons," "60 Minutes," "Survivor," "Hell's Kitchen," "David Letterman," "Craig Ferguson". Some shows I don't like- "NCIS," "Gossip Girl," "Drop Dead Diva". And some shows I downright despise and wouldn't watch if you threatened to take my internet away- "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
Two of my favorite AFN shows- "No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain" and "The Biggest Loser" air on Saturday. I joyfully watched Bourdain suck down scrumptious blood pudding in England and distastefully cracked wise at the overweight contestants. During this bout of mindless pleasure, I got to thinking about what makes a house (or apartment) a home. I have lived in a few different places in my day, but only a few truly felt like home. I think that I have grown to love our little place in South Korea. I am at my most comfortable here, with my wife, either reading, writing or watching TV (just not that fat bastard Leno).
Let me take you on a tour.
The Outside Door
You will notice that there is an electronic number pad on the outside of our metal door instead of a conventional key lock. This is awesome because I can never forget my keys! When we first moved in, the lock was broken and they had to put in a new one, so we were prisoners in our own apartment for our first day in Korea. Also, we had no furniture, tv or internet. We had "Twilight" books though. Lord did we have "Twilight" books. Also, notice the restaurant guidebook/menu hanging on the door nob. These come at least twice a week and are excellent bathroom reading material. Here is a closer look:
The Entry Way
It is a sin to wear your shoes inside the apartment, so there is a little area near the door of every apartment where you can slip off your shoes and put on some indoor slippers. Here are my slippers:
I wrote an 'L'and an 'R' in the hope that they would mold to my feet. They haven't.
The Bathroom
Directly to the left of the entryway (upon entering and facing the rest of the apartment) is the bathroom. Notice how there is no shower curtain. I have no explanation as to why there are no shower curtains to be found in Korea. I guess they think they make up for it by having the bathroom floor a few inches lower than the rest of the apartment, but that doesn't stop water from getting everywhere. Now that I am not as fat, I have actually started to take hot baths every now and then (before, I couldn't stand the sight of my watery smooth pig belly sticking up out of the water whilst the remainder of my body lay submerged). I go all out and light candles like The Dude in The Big Lebowski. I am not ashamed to admit it. It feels awesome. Most of the time though, I take a shower at the gym and so the next morning, I just wet my hair down before school. I will say this about the showers here though- I like that they have a detachable shower head. Detachable shower heads are ideal for washing one particularly hard to rinse body part. Know what I'm sayin'? (Pssst. I am talking about your butthole).
My "Office"
Across from the bathroom is my room which I have dubbed my "office." I don't use this room much except to get dressed because my closet is in there. Actually, since this picture was taken, we have moved the desk to our bedroom and placed a mattress on the floor. I found the mattress outside of one of the many apartment buildings nearby. Koreans move a lot, and aren't too fond of old furniture or hand-me-downs, so they leave stuff on the curb to be taken away. I saw this mattress there one night after walking home from the gym and told Sami that we need to go back out after it is dark and carry it into our apartment. When she saw it, she chickened out and told me that I had to turn around. She thought that it was in too good of shape and lying next to some other decent furniture- it couldn't be garbage. The next day, I came home after lunch, saw that it was there, and dragged the wet beast through the rain and up a flight of stairs into our apartment.
The Kitchen
Most Koreans do not have an oven. Similarly, we only have two gas burners. It took me a good week to figure out how to turn on the gas (Sami would argue that I haven't stopped "turning on the gas" since I have met her). We also have no dishwasher, which I think is good for the environment. Of course, I never do the dishes. Sami does.
The Living Room/TV Room
Sure the TV isn't the same as my 42" plasma sitting in Sami's grandma's boyfriend's house back in Oregon. No, I don't have Comcast or HBO or a DVR. No, we don't have a DVD player. Come to think of it, my brain is going to explode with happiness when we get back to the states.
Sami's "Office"
So Sami decided that she should get the big room to keep her closet and books in. I don't know, I guess she felt entitled since she did all the work getting everything together to come to Korea. Whatever makes her happy. Fact is, since the computer is in here, I spend more time in her room than she does typing away on the blog or watching a movie online. This is the room you would see if you Skype with us. I have a bunch of vocabulary flashcards taped to the wall and sometimes, if there is too much glare, we hang a U of O blanket over the window. Go Ducks!
Bedroom
Our bed is basically a fuzzy table. It was a nightmare at first, but we bought a thin pad for about 60 bucks U.S.D. and it has made all the difference. I might prefer a little bit softer, but in a country where people either sleep on the floor or in stone beds, I can't complain.
Storage/Laundry Room
We don't have a drier so we hang all of our clothes dry just like everyone else. Because it is so humid outside, they never get dry enough. Wet socks are hell. The best part about this room is that the washing machine sings a little jingle when the cycle is finished. It seriously goes on for like 30 seconds. Makes me happy. Also, you can see our view of the parking lot and the playground. Each apartment complex had a little play area. Hardly any kids play on the equipment, but there is always a group of old men sitting in the pagoda drinking soju- even in the early morning.
The view
In addition to our apartment, we have become quite attached to our "little store," the Clover Mart. Ninety-nine percent of the time we go to the little store to pick up beer and ice cream. Sorry to personify the fat American stereotype, but it is what it is. The people who work there seem to like us, and even give us discounts on our treats. Funny story- one time I had a bunch of ttak (sweet rice cake) that I had received as a gift. There was no way that we were going to be able to eat it all before it went bad, so I brought some to the cashier working that day. She was so excited that she went out and brought me a gift in return- little baby booties. I don't know. Maybe she thought that I gave her a gift because I found out that we are expecting a baby. I guess when Sami walks in skinny in a few months, she will figure it all out. Here are some pics of our little store:
This is the ice cream freezer I often frequent. Did I mention I like ice cream?
Korean beer and soju. We usually drink the 'OB Blue'
Well, I am glad I took the time to write about our apartment. It may not be as exotic as our upcoming travel plans, but so many times the best moments are spent in the home. It took some time, but our little apartment truly feels like one.
You just make me want to go out and have a vacation there! Very nice and peaceful. And you seem to enjoy having a frugal life, huh? Well, it's more enjoyable to live simply and more peacefully, than having a complicated life.
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