Home Sweet Home

Many people in S.Korea live in officetels; a multi-purpose building with residential and commercial units. An officetel is basically a studio apartment. It is so predominant in Korea that if you look at a city skyline most of the tall buildings you will see are officetels.

Officetels

I've been blessed in being able to live in a small, five story apartment complex owned by a Christian family. They were excited that a Christian foreigner was moving in to their apartments, as they'd never met one before. Apparently many foreigners here are the drinking and partying type. The owners' daughter is fluent in English and has been a blessing to me by extending her friendship, showing me around town, teaching me new Korean words and helping find my way to church.

My apartment is located in one of the industrial areas of Daejeon, close to the Lotte Department Store.

I live on the top floor of my apartment complex. You could call it the penthouse...or the attic, whichever you prefer. And in case you were wondering, no there is no elevator.

It is a nice cozy place, and actually much larger than I had been expecting. Most officetels are one room apartments, whereas my bedroom is separate from the rest of the apartment. Maybe it's because I'm on the top floor and have a slanted ceiling? My school has really taken care of me in that they've provided all of my furniture, most of the kitchen appliances (including a rice cooker...a must have), and a washing machine.

The bedroom. Since I have a slanted ceiling, I have a nice storage area behind the bed...good place to put the big suitcases.

The TV was also courtesy of my school. Notice how my desk is low to the ground and that the chair has no legs. It is popular Asian culture to sit on the ground at low tables for meals, etc. It can get pretty cold during the winter, and the heating system is via water pipes under your floor. The closer you are to the floor, the cozier it gets.

Kitchen/dining area. That big dish of candy on the shelf is what I got from my students on White Day. Valentine's Day is celebrated twice here in Korea. Once on February 14th and once on March 14th. Typically the girls give guys chocolate and candies on February 14th, and on March 14th the boys reciprocate and give the girls chocolate and candies. There's also Black Day on April 14th, which is Singles' Day. The single people get together on that day and eat jajangmyeon, a popular Chinese noodle and black bean dish.

Entryway. Always take your shoes off when you enter a home.
If you noticed the green bag by the door, that is trash bag that you must use in Korea. You can buy it at any grocery store and it's only for regular trash. Pretty much all plastic/paper/cardboard/etc gets recycled and food waste goes in the blue container. You leave your trash, including blue container, out on the sidewalk during the week for pickup. After trash pickup you go and pick up your container back off of the sidewalk.

Laundry room and bathroom. There's only a washing machine. Dryers aren't common here. You hang your clothes to dry. I've heard that it can take a really long time for your clothes to dry in the summer during monsoon season, so fabric softener is a must have otherwise your clothes will smell all musty.

Enclosed balcony area where I can dry my clothes no matter the weather outside.

 The bathroom and shower is all together. The shower head is actually connected to the sink faucet. Everything gets wet, so bathroom shoes definitely come in handy...and don't ever forget to move the toilet paper out the way of the shower spray.

 Well, hope you've enjoyed getting a view of my home sweet home...while it's still orderly condition. :P