Our new home

We had been told from a number of different people to not expect a grand welcoming in South Korea and anticipate a very small, probably dirty, studio apartment. We came in expecting the worst, but still hoping for the best.

After corresponding with Mr. Kim, our soon to be assistant principal, through broken English and Korean, he gave us and Pep Choi, our driver, directions to the new place. We illegally parked and the three of us lugged 6 heavy bags into the elevator quickly trying to avoid a parking ticket.

We reached our room, 624, and rang the charming doorbell (digital version of Beethoven’s fur Elise). Mr. Kim answered and ushered us in immediately giving us a hand with the bags. Once we put the bags on the floor Mr. Kim stared puzzled at Lauren and my feet. We looked at him; he looked longer at our feet. Finally Lauren and I realized we made the unknown (to us), fatal mistake of entering a room with our shoes on.

After removing our shoes, Mr. Kim was happy to show us the details of our fabulous new studio apartment. He had another name for it, “the honeymoon suite”. He was so proud of himself for picking out the floral bedspread to match the gorgeous wallpaper and aptly naming the room in honor of our recent wedding and marriage.

Mr. Kim was kind enough to clean the apartment for us and buy us a few essentials (bread, milk, and a frying pan among other things). We can’t thank him enough for it. All in all, the apartment is mostly what we expected.