Our first week and our new apartment!

Daddy and the girls at the airport

The girls were so happy to see their daddy after being separated for 3 long months. We took a 2 hour bus ride from the airport to the army post. We were able to stay in the lodging there on post for our first week. The housing office would not allow us to move into our apartment until beds and a fridge were in the place.

So Friday, a week after our arrival, we finally got keys to our new home! And what a home it is! My husband and I do have the same definition of "big" :) I love this place! I believe it is the nicest place I have ever lived in! I have a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 "Western" bathrooms (which means that they look like stuff back in the states) with a jacuzzi tub in the master bath, an enormous kitchen with tons of cupboard space, a master bedroom twice the size of any other bedroom I have ever had with one whole wall that is nothing but storage closets! and a vanity area with 3 more closets!

The realtor had to explain so much to us about how the different appliances worked because they do things so differently here. They have an oven/microwave combination unit! How cool is that? The floors are how they heat their homes, so we needed to be shown how to turn that off when we don’t need it. You can select which rack gets washed in the dishwashers! You don’t have a hot water tank here… you turn the heater on to get it and it comes out HOT… but when you aren’t using it, you turn it off to save gas. They have washing machines that also dry your clothes! (but unfortunately we didn’t get one). Our loaner furniture came on Friday, too. They brought the beds, table and chairs, a refrigerator, a dresser, night stands, lamps, a coffee table, end tables and a washer and a dryer. They were supposed to bring us a desk and a couch, but they were out of them, so we are sitting on the floor. Since we have lawn chairs and folding tables coming in our household goods (HHG) on Monday, we aren’t really worried about it. At least we have a place to sleep.

Now the rent amount will kill you... 1,700,000 Won... which equals about $1,350 +/- in dollars plus utilities! I was very nervous to get into such a "pricey" place, but my husband was already in an agreement on the place, there was no getting out of it... but I have to say, I love it! There are both Koreans and Americans living here, so we will get to make all kinds of new friends. The neighborhood is clean and quiet... except for those 2 roosters that live somewhere nearby. We are close to the train station so we can get back and forth to post easily. It is such a nice place! Our household goods (HHG) will be arriving Monday, so that means that all our important (lol) possessions will be here then. Yeah!


Master Bath


Kitchen and dining area


More Kitchen Cabinets


Master Bedroom


Wall of Storage Closets in Master Bedroom


Living Room


Girls Room


Did I mention that they have a playground on the premises?