Gwangju, my new home.

I got into Gwangju yesterday after a closing ceremony, some words from important people, a lecture about cultural differences, and lunch, I sat on a bus for 4 hours to get to Gwangju from Seoul. Gwangju seems really dirty and not very modern. I don't mind it but it's gonna take some getting used to. There are so many weird things that I need to learn and I want to learn them, but it's so hard considering that the people that are telling about me their practices can not speak English very well and I can't speak Korean. This is going to be a long long year. For instance, they have a very complicated trash system. There are different bags that they get for their trash. Not just any bag you get from the market, a SPECIAL bag. Apparently, they have different bags depending on the city as well. I want to follow the rules, but I don't understand them!! I don't think the people that speak English here (i.e., my co-teacher and the head of English teachers) understand me either. I ask them a question and they just nod their head. I do the same to them, so really, there is no communication going on here.

But anyways, my apartment is very tiny, but it's nice! I love their wallpaper and the heated floors! But I don't like their bathrooms! It's basically one room with everything in it: toilet, sink, and shower. Yes, shower. There is no distinction between where the shower is from the rest of the bathroom. Well, that's because it's ALL IN ONE ROOM! So I could be peeing and washing my hair at the same. How efficient these Korean people are. Even though I got to my apartment yesterday, I did not sleep in my own bed last night. No, there isn't a juicy story here, but I got to sleep in the apartment complex's owner's daughter's room. I really didn't want to; I just wanted to be in my own bed, but I didn't know how to say that in Korean, so I decided to just do it. When am I ever going to get the chance to sleep in a real Korean household? The owner's apartment is SOOOOOOOO nice! Like crazy nice for an apartment! The living room, dining room, the daughter's room, EVERYTHING was nice! There was even a second floor!!! It was so nice. Oh, I forgot to tell you why I slept in her room. The reason why is because there was no heat in my apartment, so they insisted that I slept there because it would be too cold in my own place. I wanted to take a shower before I slept there, but of course, there was no gas, so the water was ICE COLD. Needless to say, I decided to forego the shower. I would've died from frostbite or something serious. haha

So when I got to my apartment, I had no roommates, no working TV, no Internet, no working computer. I was SO alone. I couldn't turn on my computer because I didn't have an adaptor. The TV wasn't working because there wasn't a cable. So what did I do? I started talking to myself while unpacking. Oh how fun that was. Tomorrow, I have to go to the hospital to get a health check. Yeay me!