Now that things are quiet in the winter with no weekend trips, and I'll be heading home to Toronto for two weeks, thought it would be a good time to update people on my apartment since the first few entries in September when I arrived. From the photos it looks really nice and cosy now, and it is after all the work I put in. The first three weeks were really bad but with a lot of effort, energy, and creativity, have managed to make it really nice and I might even keep it for a second year when I renew.

I'm a ground floor apartment and the school was nice enough to install an electronic keypad entry after a few weeks living here. Apparently they had a meeting and decided my apartment 'wasnt safe' which I found quite hilarious when I heard this since they were the ones that decided to put me here in the first place!. When you enter there is a small tiled area to remove your shoes and you step up 4 inches to the floor level. When I got there there was a 4 ft shoe closet facing you blocking your entry when you walk in so I moved it to the back of the apartment for more clear access.

The size is probably perfect for me since in my last apartment I only used the bedroom as my living room and had my tv, computer, dvd all set up there, and barely used the kitchen or living room. Each wall of the room takes the place of a living space, kitchen, entertainment/storage, bedroom. Kitchen area has lots of storage and a two ring table top gas stove, no oven. The apartment came with a microwave but it was so greasy inside and out I never plugged it in and used it.

Theres two wardrobes so lots of clothes and luggage storage. Next to it I put the shoe closet and use it as a bookcase. Above it is the A/C which works when it wants to but fortunately the hot weather cooled down after I moved in so I'll deal with it next summer. Bedding I brought with me (blanket, sheets, pillows) so I could make a bed the first day I move in instead of looking for stores trying to find everything. I bought a softer warmer duvet and got small pillows from the dollar store so made it my couch/lounging area and can watch tv in bed, or have my laptop setup on a chair at the end of the bed.

Above the bed is the ondol heating control panel. It has three dials, water temp, room temp, the third I dont know. Since the weather started dropping below zero overnight I've been leaving the heating on all day so my gas bill jumped from $15 in november to $65 in December. January peaked at $80. I dont mind paying since utilities are still cheaper than back home. Only problem is shower water is still not boiling despite different settings. I told my co-teacher early on that the bills in korea were 'a joke'. Not understanding my meaning, she said it was not a joke and that I had to pay it!

Behind the bed is a sliding glass door hiding the laundry area and bathroom. The washing machine model is called 'Chaos' but it actually works quite fine! Its only hooked up to cold water and in the beginning the laundry area would flood as the hose wasnt fitted into the drain. I had to slide the machine over and rest the weight over the drain to stop the hose from coming out since it was too short.

Also the place was covered in cobwebs so needed to be scrubbed more than once. Either it was vacant for a while or the last person didnt care. Probably vacant the amount of dead plug outlets and light fixtures. Had to do some other repairs myself. Also some tiny ant spiders hiding in dark places but no other creatures so far.

The heating is only in the living room, not the laundry or bathroom area, which is strange since they have water piping which could freeze. Since winter the bathroom has a lot of condensation which is starting to develop mould so I have to scrub regularly (memories of the Fungi Exclusion in the policy wordings from my old insurance job!) Also have heard of pipes freezing in other peoples apartments so i've left the heat on while i'm away so hopefully will be ok, although the forecast for Daegu weather is showing daytime temperatures above zero.

Outside by the building entrance you leave your garbage and recyclables. An old lady with a wheelbarrow will come during the day and sort thru it. On my trip back I also bought a 110/220 volt pal/ntsc region free dvd player for $30, and a few more souvenirs from past trips to dress up the place, so it really feels like my home now.

TV I get CNN international, discovery channel, about five movie channels. There are other english channels like Fox TV and Fashion TV but the cable company only operates the signal on random times I havent figured out otherwise it becomes a korean channel.

Bills I'm paying $15 for electricity, $30 for cable/internet, and gas which spiked at $80 in january but should start coming back down to $15 which is what I was paying before winter. I'm told the school had an apartment budget of $300.

Overall the apartment is very nice and cozy now and feels like home, but this is not the condition it was given to me in and I had to put a lot of effort into making it more comfortable. My co-teacher was really surprised when she saw my apartment again after a few weeks (even the landlord), it had completely changed. 2 mins down the side street I found Gwaneum market where I buy my fruit, groceries, there is a bakery run by a students family, and a food vendor selling odeng (fish sticks) and hotdak (fried cinnamon bun).

When I renew in august i'll look at other apartments to see if there is something better. I'd like one not on the ground floor for some privacy and drainage in the pipes. If not, i'll keep this one after all the work I put in and I'm too lazy to pack up, move again, clean and fix another apartment. And i'll be travelling in the summer so dont want to cut my trip short to deal with moving. I'm an 8 min walk to the school. Its a very cosy and comfy setup now and I dont mind a second year here.

Just for comparison I've included before and after pics of my apartment in Toronto which I completely renovated, so I'm an old pro at giving a place a complete makeover and making it to my liking. So despite a few 'teething problems' when I moved in it was no big deal to sort everything out. I wanted to get a bike but theres no room and already three bikes in the hallway.

When I get back to Daegu after my Toronto trip, will be doing an extended trip to Busan and Geojedo Island, then the week after off to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, and Osaka! My school is flexible about time off during the winter break even though I used my official vacation days going back home! ;-)

Summer hols am hoping to goto Xinjiang Province in Northwest China to see the silk road cities (Urumqi, Turpan, Kashgar) and the following Chuseuk holiday in Sept back to the southern tail of Japan to see Hiroshima and Nagasaki

(See Later Entry For Full 2011 Travel Plans)

Lots of sumu wrestling on the japanese channel these days. For all the elaborate build up the actual fight can be over in 5 seconds. More like bullfighting locking horns than wrestling. Also discovered korean pool called karam. This is a regular pool table but with no pockets. You only have three balls, the white and two coloureds. The object is to hit the white onto the first colour. Then the coloured ball has to bounce off three sides of the table and hit the third ball. So you are angling your shot as a rectangle. This is near impossible and requires a high level of skill and experience. But the guy showing me said he finds our regular pool a lot harder!!

Korean version of 'I Will Survive'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2q3xRjC v0A

they even had a famous korean tv star sing it karaoke style which is big in korea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IZ1k-oI u5Q

I tried to use this to get them to sing the english version but didnt work, unless they are really familiar with the song like christmas carols (which they tried singing in korean!).

Next entry will have some videos I made of school and the students and ten more draft entries ready to roll from my travelling in korea and japan the next two weeks!!!