Happy Leap Day Everyone!

A LOT has happened this week, tons of wonderful hellos followed much too quickly by goodbyes and ‘safe travels’.  Last week staying with my super awesome friend Heather, and her menagerie of animals, (she kept two cats and a dog in her small Korean apartment) was so wonderful it felt like nothing had changed in Busan.  But now she and a lot of other people have left and it’s time to start this friend-making thing all over again. 

Another huge change is that I have a new apartment!  There are also more changes to talk about but I’m going to save that for my next post.

The location is wonderful – probably the exact opposite of my Yeongdo apartment.  My Yeongdo apartment was one big room – and definitely a lot bigger, whereas my new apartment is smaller, but divided into more rooms.  Even though my new place is smaller, I have more storage space so it makes it feel a little bigger than it is, plus the location really can’t be beat.  I’m prepared to be utterly spoiled by being so close to so many things. 

This time around I live on the 5^th floor with no elevator- last time I lived on the 3^rd floor in a building with an elevator- so when my hands were full of bags from Home Plus I would lazily take the elevator- not this time around.  Also 4 people from work live in my building, which is a huge change from last time when I was the only foreigner in my entire neighborhood. 

Other than throwing a few posters on the wall I did very little in the way of decoration last time.  Part of me felt that putting work into my apartment would be a bit of a waste since I was only going to live there one year, but this time around I’ve been really making an effort to make this place cozier than the last. 

Here are some of the ‘before’ pictures.  I’m still not quite finished with the place so the big reveal will occur in a later post.  Also don't worry my apartment now looks much better than this- this was during moving in and will make the 'after' photos look much better.

The task of getting my new place did require some hoops to jump through.  The times you usually need help most in Korea are when you first arrive and as you’re getting ready to leave.   Both often need lots of clarification and questions posed to your Korean boss or co-teacher. 

I was first told that I could move into one building on the 22^nd of February but then would have to move out to a different building (about a 5 minute walk away) on the 29^th.  I didn’t want to have to drag all my stuff (and the stuff my friends who were leaving graciously gave me) to two different places in the span of a week so I asked why I couldn’t just pick one place and move only once.  A few hours later I was told I would be moving to Star building (which is where I currently live) and I had the choice of two rooms.  I would see those rooms Wednesday night and choose which I preferred.  Two of the Korean girls who work with me and who are very nice would take me there after work the night of the 22^nd.  Then just an hour or so after this I was told my apartment would be number 504 and I could move in the next day once they were done cleaning the place. 

This rapid fire of very drastic changes is so freaking Korean it’ll make your head spin.  This is just how things work here and a big reminder that I’m not back at home, and I need to remember to once again roll with the punches. 

Even though it took some confusion and stress I finally have a new home and I have to say it’s not too shabby.  It’s not as tiny as Seema’s matchbox of a room, but it’s not as big as my last place.  And even though this place came with pretty much nothing I feel like I’ve been able to fill it up and make it seem cozy pretty quick.

Hope you have a lovely extra day! I know I am.  I might be going to the jimjilbang – (around the corner from my apartment!!!

From Busan With Love

Jenna

 Also check out the map in this post if you want to see where I live!