Week Three - We move in!

Monday was moving day! We went from our hotel room at Camp Casey to our lovely apartment in Uijeongbu. We are located about 1/2 mile from Camp Red Cloud where Layden works, so it is easy walking distance. We are in the Shindo Apartments on the 16th floor - it feels very urban. Apartments here are measured in pyeongs. Ours is 49 pyeong which equals about 1700 square feet. That is a very large apartment, especially here. We have 4 bedrooms, 2 small bathrooms, a great kitchen and a utility area and good views front and back. There are shops and restaurants in our neighborhood and a bus stop in front of our building. We feel really blessed to have such a great place to live.

The front of the building where the entry door is has our building and unit number. Our kitchen and 2 of the bedrooms are on this side. On the other side of the building Sarah is the little, barely discernable red dot waving from our balconey. The living room and the other 2 bedrooms are on this side.

Each landing has two apartments, so when we come up it is almost like having a private elevator. This is our entry door. We don't really use keys to get in. We have a number keypad where we punch in our code to unlock the door. Rather high-tech. We have to be sure to remember to change the batteries! (Don't worry Mom - there is a fire escape)

Welcome! This is our front entry way looking towards our door. There is a shoe cupboard to the right. Here it is customary to take shoes off before entering the house - it was even in our lease agreement! In the right foreground are lovely leaded glass doors that hang in the frame - they are down here because we are waiting for furniture to be delivered. So, not only do we have space-age keyless entry - we also have an "airlock."

This is our living room! It has a great view of apartments, mountains and the sports stadium (those pictures next week). We are lucky to have A/C in the apartment. You can see the condensors on the balconey - the big one is for the main unit and the small one is for the A/C in our bedroom. Our floors are covered in wood-grain vinyl. It goes right over the concrete, which has radiant heating built in. Our toes will stay warm all winter! The big square light on the ceiling is all flourescent - makes it sort of feel like your friendly neighborhood grocery when on, so we will be happy to get our floor lamps. The cabinet unit came with the apartment and is designed to hold a TV and accessories. The cable and a multitude of outlets are ready and waiting! The white "phone" on the wall is the intercom where we can buzz open the ground-level door and see who is standing outside our entry door. We can also use it to call security, though I don't know how useful that will be until we learn more Korean.

Here is the kitchen! It is quite spacious and has decent cabinet space and a sort of "peninsula" counter to the left. We are really lucky to have an oven. This is not typical of Korean kitchens as their cuisine does not really involve baking. Instead, there is usually a dishwasher. I am glad for the oven! However, above the sink I do have a dish dryer, complete with a UV santiation light. The dining area is where I stood to take this picture. The lovely etched glass window is opposite the stove and looks into the living room.

This is the master bedroom. Along the far wall are closets, which is another rarity. The frosted windows open on to a "balconey" space. The contraption hanging from the ceiling is the "clothesline" for drying laundry. It raises and lowers like venetian blinds. Most Koreans don't use a dryer. We are lucky to have both a washer and a dryer, but once I see the utility bills I may be very happy for this item!

Bathrooms - we have 2 of them. One is small, and then there is this one - the "master bath" which is even smaller. You can see trim and athletic Layden filling it elbow to elbow. The shower drain is really under the sink, which explains why there is a step down into the bathroom. It is also tiled floor to ceiling and seems to be quite waterproof. The only one in the family who really fits into this space is Dash. He finds the sink a cool, comfortable and perfectly-sized resting place.