We weren't here two weeks before our grocery store shut down. As much as we walked, we just could not find another. We tried going to E-Mart one Saturday and let me just say, it was an experience. There was a veritable wall of people, the carts move side-to-side as well as back-and-forth, and there are salespeople all over the place shouting out about different products. There are 3 floors of this accessible only via a contraption that is essentially an escalator combined with a moving sidewalk. I was a nervous wreck by the time we left. I already missed our little grocery store!
Today, John went out to the convenience store to buy some noodles. There, he encountered a clerk who apparently wanted to practice his English. So, John decided to take advantage of the situation and asked the clerk where he could find a grocery store. The clerk pointed him down a street where he found a very nice little grocery store, albeit in a less-than-nice neighborhood. He found some great stuff there. He finally found a little pot for us to make rice in, green tomatoes (we'll be having fried green tomatoes for our anniversary tomorrow), honey mustard, spaghetti, cheese, and PANCAKE MIX AND SYRUP. The latter is a very big deal to us. It's hard to find pancake syrup around here. The funny thing is the location of the store. You have to turn right at Baskin Robins, which is where John catches his bus in the morning and where we go to pick up a taxi. It also houses a Dunkin Donuts and is across the street from a book store. It's all very amusing. I am so relieved he found our new grocery store, though.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Settling in Korea...
We arrived in Suwon, Republic of Korea on Saturday, March 28, 2009 after a lengthy flight delay in Denver and nearly missing our plane out of San Francisco. We came expecting to find ourselves in the little town of Namyangju as per the address on John’s contract. Imagine our surprise upon finding ourselves in Suwon, instead. Imagine our even further surprise to find that instead of a 1 bedroom apartment, we were being provided with a studio. The owners said that they did not know John was bringing his family.
The apartment was a bit of a shock for me. All it contained when we first walked through the door was: a twin bed; appliances; a wok; a fork; a spoon; a pair of chopsticks; a spatula; a pair of tongs; two kitchen towels; two cans of baked beans; diswashing liquid; degreaser; bleach; a half-empty bottle of water; a mop for the bathroom; and a pair of rubber gloves. There was not a dish to be found. There was no table, no toilet paper, no can opener to go with the beans, no TV, and no means of cooking, as the gas was not on. It was finally turned on the Tuesday after we arrived. The washing machine has no accompanying dryer, so I have to hang our clothes to dry in the bathroom which, as you can imagine, takes forever. The cable, TV, and phone were finally installed on Thursday, so I finally got to talk to my parents for more than 1 minute. I hadn't even talked to my father in nearly 2 weeks! The owner’s son did take us shopping the first Monday night after our arrival to purchase many of the aforementioned missing items, though.
Now, I will tell you about our apartment. We have a view of a brick wall and, if you peer to the left, a gas station. I actually do rather like the neighborhood, as almost everything we need is within walking-distance and what isn’t is accessible via taxi (which isn’t too expensive in Korea) or subway, which is only a few blocks from our apartment. The apartment isn’t too bad for what it is, either. We have bamboo laminate flooring with ondol heating, a digital security lock, a video doorbell, a passcode protected front door, and a motion sensor light that comes on when someone comes through the door.We like it enough to try to make it work here.
Irene is doing very well. She's started rolling over on a regular basis, has sat up by herself for a few seconds, and almost said, "Daddy!" She charmed the customs agents at Incheon International Airport. She was smiling at them, attracting a crowd, and laughing at the stamp. They didn't even hassle us about having one-way tickets. She currently has a bit of a cold, but she's in good spirits. She's eating very well. We're thinking of letting her try rice cereal tomorrow. She'll be 5 months old then. I have experienced one disappointment: I can't cloth diaper here. There is no dryer and nowhere to hang CDs to dry. Even if I do a load a day, they don't dry quickly enough and end up being musty. I'm upset about that, but I will be saving them, as we're still considering having another child in a few years.
The apartment was a bit of a shock for me. All it contained when we first walked through the door was: a twin bed; appliances; a wok; a fork; a spoon; a pair of chopsticks; a spatula; a pair of tongs; two kitchen towels; two cans of baked beans; diswashing liquid; degreaser; bleach; a half-empty bottle of water; a mop for the bathroom; and a pair of rubber gloves. There was not a dish to be found. There was no table, no toilet paper, no can opener to go with the beans, no TV, and no means of cooking, as the gas was not on. It was finally turned on the Tuesday after we arrived. The washing machine has no accompanying dryer, so I have to hang our clothes to dry in the bathroom which, as you can imagine, takes forever. The cable, TV, and phone were finally installed on Thursday, so I finally got to talk to my parents for more than 1 minute. I hadn't even talked to my father in nearly 2 weeks! The owner’s son did take us shopping the first Monday night after our arrival to purchase many of the aforementioned missing items, though.
Now, I will tell you about our apartment. We have a view of a brick wall and, if you peer to the left, a gas station. I actually do rather like the neighborhood, as almost everything we need is within walking-distance and what isn’t is accessible via taxi (which isn’t too expensive in Korea) or subway, which is only a few blocks from our apartment. The apartment isn’t too bad for what it is, either. We have bamboo laminate flooring with ondol heating, a digital security lock, a video doorbell, a passcode protected front door, and a motion sensor light that comes on when someone comes through the door.We like it enough to try to make it work here.
Irene is doing very well. She's started rolling over on a regular basis, has sat up by herself for a few seconds, and almost said, "Daddy!" She charmed the customs agents at Incheon International Airport. She was smiling at them, attracting a crowd, and laughing at the stamp. They didn't even hassle us about having one-way tickets. She currently has a bit of a cold, but she's in good spirits. She's eating very well. We're thinking of letting her try rice cereal tomorrow. She'll be 5 months old then. I have experienced one disappointment: I can't cloth diaper here. There is no dryer and nowhere to hang CDs to dry. Even if I do a load a day, they don't dry quickly enough and end up being musty. I'm upset about that, but I will be saving them, as we're still considering having another child in a few years.
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