my new crib!

The family of four that I'll be staying with, my friend JB Lee and his parents & sister, live in an apartment in Jamsil (pronounced "jahm-shill") which is a pretty nice neighborhood (those of you from Cincinnati, think Hyde Park or maybe even a little nicer) in southeastern Seoul. It's about 40-50 minutes from Incheon Airport.

As mentioned in the last post it was pretty dark on the way here so I'm not really even sure what it looks like yet, but undoubtedly pictures will come tomorrow/later today!

Living in an apartment is what most people in Seoul do. JB said that the only ones who live in houses are poor people or really, really, really rich people.The Lee apartment itself is small by American standards, I think, but is really nice by Korean standards. It's close to multiple subway and bus stops, and they have an extra room. JB is sleeping there and I'm sleeping in his old room. I raised objection to this! But he insisted it was fine, since he's been going to school at OSU for a while now, so it's not really "his" room anymore. The room itself is a lot bigger than the space I had in my dorm this past year, not to mention I have it all to myself, so I am really happy and so, so, so grateful to this family. An added bonus is that there are some funny pictures of him in here. For example the one I'm looking at while I write this is of him with his friends, and he is wearing a bridal veil. (?)

I think JB's parents were worried that I would find the apartment to be small, but to be honest, after dealing with college housing I feel that I can weather just about anything. (With the exception of maybe this.)

I get to use two of the drawers you see in that bottom picture, and they also have provided me with a few hangers, so it's quite a good thing that I packed light! I didn't have any problem fitting everything into its new home.

Also it kind of creeped me out/cracked me up that the internet knows I'm not in Kansas anymore:

I don't have a Korean name right now, but I think I'll probably get one when my class starts in a few weeks.

I've also started making friends already!

Maybe not.

Everyone has been so very, very welcoming already. They gave me these adorable slippers to wear around the house:

So cute!!!

Actually, meeting Mr. and Mrs. Lee was terrifying. I'm not even sure why, but right before JB opened the apartment door, my heart started pounding and my hands even started shaking. I don't even mean a twitch here and there, I mean it was so bad that I almost dropped my purse when I went to take it off my shoulder! I haven't been that nervous since the announcer started pulling teams in the final I was in at the national rowing championships two years ago. Also, I was so mad at myself!!!!!! I had been practicing what to say when I met them, but instead all I managed to squeak out was, "Hi." And not even a good hi, it was a pathetic and feeble hi. Ridiculous!! I can't even introduce myself to people right now! I have a lot of work to do.

I look forward to being able to remember that moment with a chuckle, instead of a slap to my own face.