We have had a great first 10 days here in South Korea. We have adjusted to the time and feel good. Somehow we have managed to stay healthy--knock on wood-- and for that we are very thankful. Since my last entry we have been focusing on trying to find a place to live. We were supposed to move into on-post housing for military families--in fact, for 9-months we were told there was no way we could live off-post and we absolutely could NOT be the exception to the rule. Once we decided living on post would be ok, we started to get excited! Darren went to his housing meeting and low and behold, guess what?! We get told there is absolutely no room in the on-post housing village and there were absolutely no exceptions, we HAD to live off-post. We were told to find a realtor, find an apartment at fair market value, find an inspector, we were not to lease a 1st or 2nd floor apt due to flooding, make sure the apartment would have a military clause, etc, etc, so on. SO very intimidating to two people who don't speak Korean and just arrived in country. Fortunately, we found a great realtor and began our lovely apartment hunting adventure. One apartment we saw was very authentic Korean. It was a villa and has a "soup kitchen" and I don't mean homeless people lining up for soup at our door, I mean an actual patio door separating the house from a second kitchen. Thank you, but I only need one kitchen to make soup. :) I suppose it was to keep the heat and smell out of the main home, but still, I got the giggles.
Our new apartment building on the right.
We saw a few more apartments before settling on a brand-new apartment in a sky-rise building. It is very nice and has some unusual amenities-- a built-in refrigerator and freezer, space for a second fridge, space for a third fridge and a refrigerated drawer. Hmmm. :) I think the Americans can deal with extra fridge space! As the Koreans say, "it's okay, no problem!" I believe that one is specifically for kimchi; although, I don't see myself needing that one.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi_refrigerator
We have to separate our trash here, so to make it easy, one of the things they have is a food-trash-sucker built into the countertop. We have a clothes line that hangs out the window and shoe closets that line the entry, as Asian cultures always remove their shoes upon entering a home.
We have had an adventure hunting for this apartment for sure, but one thing we are always coming back to is the Lord's faithfulness to provide. There have been several times when panic sets in and the unfamiliar surroundings make me want to hide under the covers, hoping I come out in Oklahoma again. These moments of overwhelming inability to function are the perfect chance for The Lord to remind is of his desire to protect and provide. We have been so grateful to find a new church, Seoul International Baptist Church , made up of other foreign English speakers. They made us feel very welcome, and while small, they were doing big things and we really want to be apart of their community.
In just 10 days, we see that this is a wonderful country, full of kind people. They have a gleeful love of children and Emmalyn has been receiving a lot of doting and loving pats from the Koreans. We have done a bit of exploring, but plan to do much more in the coming weeks once we are settled. Thank you all for the kind words and prayers during our transition. 감사합니다 "Thank you" in the Korean symbol language, Hangul, which we are somewhat diligently trying to learn. :)
My first dressing table in the hallway that connects the master bed and bath.
Master bedroom-- blinds will be added to all windows before we move in. We will be the first residents.
Living room and kitchen and laundry room.
Strange stone materials, but I like it!
Kimchi/produce refrigerator.
Living room.
Emmalyn and I at the Korean War Museum.
Korean War memorial.
Trying to familiarize ourselves with Hangul symbols. Making progress, sort of. :)
