Yesterday, we posted this picture to our Facebook page asking our followers to guess what it could possibly unlock…
It is a key to the door of our building where our new apartment is located! We have a key to this three story building because we are actually the only ones who are residing there. The first two stories are businesses that are no longer open. On the third floor are two large two bedroom apartments.
So, this past week has been spent packing up our stuff for yet another move (our 4th apartment). Let us explain the back-story a bit better before anyone starts thinking that something bad is happening.
At the end of December we renewed our contracts for another year, yes we will be staying in Korea for a third year(!), and had made mention to our schools that we would like a bigger apartment if at all possible. As winter break was fast approaching, my co-teacher came to me to tell me that we needed to be out of our apartment by mid-January. We were taken aback by this announcement as our contracts are not finished until April and we had assumed we would have our apartment until then.
We had three weeks to find a new place and move out of our old one. We are pretty attuned to Korea’s fast-paced nature, but we were nevertheless feeling a bit in over our heads. Later that afternoon, my co-teacher again came to me and said that after school we would be visiting an apartment that he thought would fit our requests.
We all met up and toured the apartment after work. Ryan and I liked the place and it was certainly big. To be honest, it might be too big! The building had just been purchased the previous week by a teacher who works at my school. We said we would discuss it, but also wanted to see other places before making a final decision.
The next day I was informed that not only were there no other large places in our price range for rent, but another couple had toured the apartment after us and were also interested. We really had no other option but to choose the first and only place we looked at. We really love the place, so I guess it worked out in the end, however hectic it was.
In less than 24 hours, we were told we had three weeks to get out of our current place, toured ONE apartment, and decided to move there in less than two weeks. Many Koreans joke about the “bbali-bbali culture” which means “hurry hurry,” but we bear witness to this phenomenon on an almost daily basis. Let us not forget the couch, too. Noticing that the living room would need furniture, we mentioned that we’d like a couch. On that single comment, the owner loaded us into his car, drove us to a used furniture store, paid for a couch (we paid him back), and we had the couch delivered. Time from couch comment to sitting on it in our new living room? 25 minutes. Korea is a fast paced and ever changing country and sometimes we have to just buckle up for the ride.
As soon as we have a moment to catch our breath and settle in, we will do another apartment tour video and post! There is also a lot more excitement on the horizon for us that we will be sharing soon with you so be sure to check back with us!
-Stephanie
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