The 'Hood & The Digs

The staff here is lives in different neighborhoods throughout Bundang.  They do this with the hope that we will get out and meet some non-foreigners and also to help us learn about various areas.  For the most part, families are in a more suburban area and singles are in the hub of downtown.  The couples are sort of in the middle of all that.  

I love my neighborhood!  It is close to everything - buses, taxis, subway, and school.  The KIS bus stop is right outside my building or it's about a 20 minute walk to school.  Uphill.  Maybe in the fall or spring, but not in this heat.  

My building - Royal Palace Houseville

I am the left tower.

The Tancheon River is a block from my house.  My building is on the far right.

There are many bridges (both car and pedestrian) that go over the river...

...but my favorite are the many rock bridges.

There are running trails and bike paths on either side of the river.  Along with playgrounds, water parks, and fitness stations scattered along the way.

My building is at the end of a pedestrian promenade (like 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica).  I haven't taken any pictures yet, but it's full of shops and restaurants.  I'll add those soon.

I live in a 1 bedroom apartment on the 26th floor of a 31 story building.  I am very fortunate to have the view I have.  I feel like I paid my "shady apartment" dues in SF and have finally earned a nice spot.  

Still unpacking...

It is customary to take off your shoes upon entering a Korean household.  Part of this is tradition, part of this is cleanliness, and I've also been told it helps preserve the heated floors. Oh yes, heated floors!  More on that in the winter.

The entryway is slightly sunken down and has a closet.  A shoe closet!!  My shoe closet dream has been realized!!  This is by far the best feature of the apartment.  I was a little worried about bringing 37 pairs of shoes (this is the edited version, some were donated, some stayed behind), but as you can see, there are still a few sad, empty shelves.  Challenge accepted!

That door leads to a two foot "balcony", half of which contains a fan/ac.  A door to nowhere, if you will.  Note the sticky notes on the video call box and other controls.  The FST guys were kind enough to leave notes for me since everything is in Korean.  The one on the bottom right says, "Don't touch until winter."  Heater.  Got it.

On Saturdays in Seoul at Hongik University they have a "free market."  It's an art market where local artists sell their work.  I can't wait to go to jazz up the place a bit.

Koreans prefer a very firm mattress.  Me?  Not so much.

What they lack in mattress choices they more than make up for in custom closets.  I think I could just do a post on the closets and storage.  Happiness!

Koreans don't generally have/use ovens.  In lieu of an oven I have a dishwasher.  I haven't had a dishwasher for over 6 years.  Living alone it's quite an undertaking to try to fill one.  So I use it as a drying rack instead!

To continue our theme of "Colleen's Obsession With Closets"...half of that mirror slides over to reveal...a quite large medicine cabinet!

This is quite a shower contraption!  The three knobs down the center control whether you would like to use the overhead or handheld nozzle.  The third one turns on four water jets, like a spray tanning salon, so I've been told.

This may be TMI...but this is mission control for the toilet seat bidet!  

Washing machine in the bathroom...

...it's the little things...I love that the lid slides back rather than lifts.

This concludes my tour.  Next up, my 1st trip into Seoul!