My Apartment

For the first week and a half I lived in temporary accommodations directly across from the school. I’m not sure if most of the people were living there permanently, or if many were just there for a short stay like me. I would guess that there were a lot of full time residents there. It kind of had the feel of a college dormitory in the US; the rooms were quite small, and there was a communal kitchen on each floor.

My place came with a bathroom, washer, TV, refrigerator, and kitchen sink (as well as a bed and dresser of course). Like I said, it was small, but that was what I had been expecting. Space it at such a premium that people would much rather live in a dinky apartment in the city than a bigger place two hours outside of the city. And I’m sure the Korean definition of spacious is much different than the American one!

A kitchen, laundry room, and entry way all in one!

On my first day of school, after the other teacher had moved out, I finally got my own apartment! It felt great to start to settle in. The complex across from the school was super convenient, but after 10 days I was definitely ready to move in. The first thing I thought when I saw the place was, wow, it is actually bigger than I expected! Again, by US standards, it’s not that large, but there is enough room for a small couch and table with two chairs (for comparison, those would have taken up most of the floor space in the first place). The only downside was that the apartment was a bit older, although I really don’t mind. I can tell that the washer and stove are from another era, but other than that, I don’t notice much of a difference.

My new apartment! I didn't clean up for the photo...

Nilu, the teacher who I replaced, left behind a lot of goodies. Her plan was to travel for a couple of months in Thailand, so I don’t think she had too much space for luggage. She also told me that she mailed some things back to the US though. Judging by what was still in the apartment, she must have either brought a lot to Korea or bought quite a few things here. It also may be that when she moved in the previous teacher had also left stuff behind too. I have already put some of it to use, such as the hangers in the closet, the sheets, pillow, pots and pans (sparingly), utensils, plates, cups, etc. She also left food behind too! The tuna and cereal bars are already long gone, and I also ate some of the frozen food.

So overall I must say I’m happy with my apartment situation. Matt, the other new teacher, got one that is a lot smaller, so I should consider myself lucky. His is newer, but the location is also not as good. My place is within a five minute walk of tons of restaurants and convenient stores. It also takes me less than 10 minutes to get to the subway station and probably about 15 to get to work. Between the subway station and my apartment is Seokchon Lake, which has a running / walking loop around it (should be great when the weather warms up!). The station is also connected to Lotte World, so if I ever want to go shopping – not that I’m counting on it – I can easily walk there.

the subway in Seoul

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