Dear Friends and Family,

I adore my living situation. And for once, I’ll attempt to use pictures over words to tell you all about my cozy apartment…


The building… my window is drawn all the way back, sandwiched between the other two floors, on the side closest to us.


The building stair …


The ladies selected pink and green paisley for my bed… which grew on me surprisingly quickly!


The facilities… the kitchen is on the left. It has a good-sized window that affords me views of the street. My favorite time of day is when the setting sun casts patches of gold down the street… The kitchen has a stainless sink, a 3-burner gas stove, cabinet space, a washing machine, a drying rack hung from the ceiling, and an old school desk which works v. well for counter space. I find this kitchen fairly congenial for cooking and have discovered the secret to dish-washing: only own 1 plate, several bowls and a few pans. One is forced to wash dishes often and there are never many dishes to wash.

The bathroom is on the right. I cannot like the arrangement of combination shower stall + bathroom – but my bathroom is clean (even now), it has a nice bit of storage and I seem to have mastered not wetting the TP nor towels. For days I rebelled in wearing the plastic flip flops that the ladies kindly provided for me – but in the end, I succumbed to good sense as having wet feet for the entirety of one’s morning is not pleasant.

On the far right hangs a piece of silk that I purchased in Cambodia. I’ve never been over-inclined towards the hanging fabric on my walls (usually my Mum’s inclination) but as I traveled with my corrupting textile-o-phile friend, silk grew on me. This piece is half green, half orange/gold and all beautiful. When my friend and I purchased our pieces, the silk reeked of the Cambodian old market so the sales lady suggested that we wash it with shampoo. I’m hoping that it no longer stinks as I haven’t yet found someone in Korea to act as my nose….


Koreans traditionally eat at ground-level and probably succeed in actually hiding their laundry under their tables (sorry)… I occasionally eat or type on the floor although generally I move my short-legged table to the bed and prop myself against the wall. The apartment floor rises from the doorway because there is a winter floor heating system, which I’ll apparently be very grateful for but I've had to now teach myself to not trip every time I walk through my doorway. The rack is golf-themed, not my favorite look, and the brown cabinet on the right is intended for shoes…

And we have now gone full circle. Although arguably modest by US standards, my abode is clean, perfectly comfortable, and happily sized in order to discourage me from buying filling it with stuff. V. good. --L