my apartment

This is the third apartment that I've had in Korea, and it's the biggest, but it's the first I've had that is only one room.

The view from the entrance of my wall-less living room and dining space. Abby was sleeping on the couch, her second favourite sleeping place, so she missed out on the photo shoot. Lots of Buddhist art on the walls, plus a mini framed picture of Kali, my favourite Hindu god. I love Buddhist and Hindu art.

Art area, entrance to my bathroom, closet, and bed area featuring my awesome mannequin that was a find my first year in Korea. Another Kali by my closet and a small one by the entrance.

 The kitchen and entrance. My washing machine is in a closet like space to the left. This is also the first apartment I've had that doesn't have a tiled washing/laundry room.

Some of my furniture was provided by my university, but a lot of it was purchased by me. In my contract they stipulated that furniture would be provided, as it was for me by my two EPIK schools. Which is great, if you don't care what you get. Schools will buy whatever is cheapest (some don't care how old, used or unfortunately ugly it is) and then you're stuck with it.

I like most of what I was given, the tv stand, bed, storage cabinet, kitchen cabinet, and table. But they also gave me an incredibly ugly (seriously, it looked like it had been used and abused in a love motel) couch and busted old tv. This is my third year in Korea, I want nice-ish things, not whatever is the cheapest option to cover contract requirements. I asked if they could take away the stuff I didn't want, many, many (10+!) times. Which they agreed to, but that was over a month ago... Thankfully another teacher is holding onto them for me (since they haven't fully furnished their apartments yet). In my experience, foreign teachers' living conditions are pretty damn low on the list of the school's concerns, but thankfully my current situation is much better than my past two (and I can only seriously complain about my first place).

 My bathroom, also the first I've ever had that's tried to separate the shower and toilet area. Ok, it's just a panel of glass, but it's nice that the toilet doesn't end up showering with me all the time like at my last two places...

The best part of my apartment, the view.

It's really nice having a lake with mountains off in the distance to look out at each morning and night.