our new home

So yesterday Richy and I arrived at Banghak middle school along with 16 other NSETs. We pulled up in a charter bus, into the school yard. I didn't imagine we would be treated like rock stars. Children were hanging out the school windows, screaming in excitement. Some were gathered around a bus, a few girls yelled "Hello" then ran away squealing, covering their faces. It was quite a production. The other teachers were there just to be picked up and taken to their respective schools, but I had to immediately meet the principal and some of my co-teachers since this is the school I will be teaching at. We sat awkwardly in the principal's office with our hands nervously folded in our laps. We were served some apple juice type beverage while students plastered their faces to the windows, waving and making kissing motions. It was entertaining but also kind of creepy. Students were recruited to carry my bags, and after all the other teachers were found by their school representatives, our co-teachers took Richy and I to our apartment.

Our apartment is on the 8th floor of a 15 story building called Hyundai Homecity (or Hometown depending on the translation). Before walking in, my co-teacher apologized because apparently the last residents hadn't cleaned and the guy who was supposed to order all of our furnishings procrastinated. I was expecting the worst. However, upon seeing the place I was pleasantly surprised to find a large living room, two normal sized bedrooms, a nice tiled bathroom and a decent kitchen. We also have all the traditional Korean fixtures such as a separate Kimchi fridge (in the place where I wish we had a dishwasher), a shoe closet by the door, and ondol (heated floors). Of course, it was dirty and barely furnished (we have a bed, TV, fridge, two bar stools, a microwave, gas range, washer), but with a lot of potential. We'll be posting a video tour as soon as we can get a decent internet connection.

Then we signed some papers, ate an American style buffet dinner with our co-teachers, and went on a stressful shopping journey for some bare essentials (dish soap, breakfast food, alarm clock, toilet paper, etc.). We came home and wanted to relax, but I ended up scrubbing the shower with Richy's extra travel toothbrush. Richy found a useable wireless signal and set up the closet space.

So far so good. I feel like we're starting over from scratch but it's good to have our own place. Today: more shopping.