Living in style.

I'll take a break from storytelling and let you know about this little apartment where I live and the area around me.

It is the second most expensive area to live in Seoul. There are department stores, electronic stores, book stores, make-up stores, sunglass stores, designer clothing stores, pet stores and every other kind of store you can imagine. I live parallel to a very large street, of which I am not sure of the name. I think it is Gangnum St (pronouced Kognam), but it's written in Korean, so who knows. There are many Western Restuarants close to me as well and over one-hundred Korean bars and restuarants within two minutes. I'm not exagerating either. There is a Subway, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Outback, Tony Roma's, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Kraze Burger, TGI Friday, McDonalds and a handfull of other western chains. The WalMart is within ten minutes and has most of the same stuff as they do back home. As much as I have always hated Walmart, it was nice to see the name. Let's just hope they provide insurance to their employees here.

My apartment is a three story complex with only eight tenants. It is smaller and less crowded because we are in what they call the "Manhattan of Seoul." Only Americans call it that actually, but still. I am in Apartment 2-1 on the second floor. There is a code to get into the building as well. There is no elevator, only nice marble stairs. Don't get ahead of yourself. Everything is made of brick or marble in Korea. No one uses wood or anything else. It's still very nice though. My actual apartment is one room. Most of the places here are one room because they are so expensive. I'll put pictures up soon enough, but I'll explain it too you because I'm sure my family would like to know what it looks like. You walk in and there is an area a couple inches below the main floor where you take your shoes off. This is very important to understand. You are expected to remove your shoes right away when entering someone's home. Even my friends here to it when we go the each others homes. In the area there is a closed-door shelve for storage and I guess my guests' shoes, but I'm not sure yet. You turn left and there is the main room. I have a desk with this computer on it; a movable wardrobe closet; a chair; an ottaman; a single bed and aTV. They also provided a phone and a neat video phone that allows me to watch the camera's in the building. It's not bad really. The bathroom is large and has a toilet, sink and shower. The shower is odd though. The bathroom floor slopes towards the center of the room where a drain is located. The shower head is detachable and is mounted on the wall. So when you shower you're just in the bathroom, there's no separation. Odd, but charming. The kitchen is small, but larger that you might think. My friends will know the size when I say it is larger than Laura's Shelbourne kithen, but smaller than my old kitchen on 13th street. The refrigerator is small, but not as small as dorm fridges. To my suprise I have a balcony and a washing machine. I'll eat on the balcony in the morning, but it's not a good view, just other apartments. Koreans do not sit out there though, they all seem to dry their laundry out there instead.

Oh yeah, there is a park and playground right next to my place as well. Nothing too exciting, but the Koreans like to sit out there in the early mornings or late at night and drink and smoke.

So that is my home. I do like it and will be happy here for the year...