Moving Day and Our First Weekend in Suwon

Our Taxi van got a flat tire on it's way to pick us up so we found ourselves with 45 minutes to kill and - conveniently- two decks of cards. So Emma and Ryan, who had walked us down to the gate, joined Mel and I in plopping ourselves down in the SEV doorway and playing a last-chance game of Nertz. Personally, I think that Emma slashed the tire herself as she is a bit of a Nertz addict and is always looking for one more fix.

The ride itself was 2 1/2 hours, but probably closer to an hour if it weren't for the traffic jams. Our driver talked on his cell phone the whole time and there weren't any seat belts. He did, however, have red ginseng mints that he kindly offered us. They were so nauseating! I couldn't wait for him to talk on his phone again so he'd be distracted and I could spit it out. When we arrived we helped us carry everything up to our place. We live on the 9th floor and, luckily, there is an elevator to spare us from the stairs.

Our apartment is cool. It's small, but it is funtional, clean and fine for us for now. There is a lot of storage, a washing machine, and free cable. We also have access to the roof, which is 12 stories up and the view is pretty awesome. The skyscrapers, mountains and lights make for a good backdrop, especially for a boy from small-town Aylesford like myself. We are in a good location. The following amenities are within a 5 minute walk from our apartment: Dunkin Donuts, KFC, Homeplus (a Wal-Mart type-store with groceries), Migliore and New Core (8+ story department stores full of clothes), Lotteria (the Lotte version of McD's), a big Cinema, Starbucks, Outback Steakhouse, TGI Fridays, Bennigans, VIPS, a Pho place, a park, city hall, and a 1,000 won store. Yeah, Korean Dollarama!!

The view from our apartment.

An ad in our elevator for a spa. The spa is for your 'gody' and offers 'dreast care'.

At the 1,000 won store there were crap (or crab???) grocery bags.

Saturday night we went to Homeplus for groceries. We had to as we forgot all of ours in the SEV fridge. As SOON as we walked in the door an older Korean man stopped us and tried to strike up conversation. He started out with "Where are you from?" and by the end of it all he was singing Elvis' "Love Me Tender" to Mel. I think he wanted me to sing too but I didn't know the words like he did! Odd.

At Homeplus they're always saving you won.

Mike, they have 151 proof rum at Homeplus!!! Caution: Highly flammable and also, highly intoxicating.

We also picked up some ethnic Pringles. They tasted very cultural.

Sunday we explored and found all of the above listed stores and sights.

Around town we found a local favorite: Bib, the Michelin Man!

Today we had our first day of work. The english village is located inside KBS (the Korean Broadcasting Studio) so we'll be rubbing shoulders with some Korean celebs. I would say it's 80% complete- kind of dusty but the walls are up and carpets/paint are complete. There was no heat though and it's gotten pretty cold here so we had a chilly afternoon. There's also no furniture so we had a chilly afternoon on the floor. We only worked 1-5 and we have tomorrow off! Woo Hoo!!