Wanderlust: New Dorm

The trip to campus was just as long and agonizing as I had expected. Several times there were no escalators or elevators, so I had to carry two 50ish pound suitcases up several flights of stairs. There was no room to sit down during the hour long subway ride either. When we got to the station, we had to walk almost another mile to get to the main office to figure out where to go. I felt like my arms were going to fall off. Oh well. Enough with the complaining.

We got to the main office and waited outside for the office to open up again after lunch so we could register. The international affairs coordinator, Rebecca, spotted us fairly soon and escorted us to our dorm where we checked in without hassle.

The dorms are fairly new and a lot nicer than my old dorm at UT.

Right after dumping all my stuff off

There is plenty of storage space, a desk with a nice rolling office chair, a room for the toilet, a separate room for the shower and sink, temperature control, and windows that open!!!

Toilet. Yay!

Shower and sink and only one towel rack!

Wonderful open window

I went with Justin and Tim to a nearby Emart to buy supplies and eat. The food court was set up so that you order your food before you go in. You are then issued a receipt, and when your number shows up on a display, you go get your food. The nifty thing was that there were several windows, each dealing with a certain type of food. All the fried rice entrees came out at one window, all the soups came out at another, and so forth. Once done with your meal, you had to return your color coded tray to the correct window. I had kimchi fried rice with octopus.

Mmm. The yellow stuff is pickled radish

Tim standing in front of the various windows

The Emart had three stories. To get from one to another, you pushed your cart onto a moving tilted walkway. The magnetized cart wheels anchored your cart in place so you wouldn't slide down. Justin and Tim had to buy bedding and assorted other things. I had brought sheets with me from the US and had that morning purchased an awesome blanket from the Namdaemun market. I haggled the price down to 47,000 won and could probably have gotten it for even cheaper, but it was at least a better value than anything at the store. Otherwise, I got paper towels, detergent, a laundry basket, tape for putting pictures up, a pillow, and apples!!! (The first ones I've eaten since getting to Korea)

My bed with the awesome blanket I haggled for

Desk with pictures of home all put up

My suitcase fits!!!

Laundry time!!! I had to do laundry after 8 days in the city. I was using a top loader and powder detergent, both of which I had never used before. On top of that, the control panel was entirely in Korean. I think I managed to do everything right though. The washer was free, but the dryer cost me 1,000 won for still damp clothes. :( I might have to invest in a drying rack.