Kyla In Gunsan: Gunsan Time! Apartment Edition

Let me start this blog by saying I have the best friends around! I already knew that, but as the days and weeks go by, I just keep realizing it even more. Kelsey made me the most amazing going away package full of things I didn't even think about needing. During orientation, the laundry detergent came in handy (and also made me pretty popular among the other scholars who didn't have any! haha) and today when I couldn't buy any cleaning supplies because I couldn't read the labels, I remembered that Kelsey also gave me packs of Clorox wipes! I used those things like there was no tomorrow! So Kelsey, thank you again..you've helped me so much the last few weeks and you didn't even know you were! My friends here in Korea are also amazing, keeping me from freaking out about all of the new things going on. I couldn't have come here without them.

This blog is actually about my new apartment though, I just wanted to give them a little shout out first! Yesterday I moved to Gunsan, which means I got my apartment! In Korea, my house is called a 'one room'. When you watch the video tour, you'll see that the name is very fitting. I met with my mentor teachers and co-teacher yesterday morning at the university in Jeonju and had ~~delicious~~ cafeteria food with them. Luckily, it was my last cafeteria meal!!! After finishing lunch and talking with them for a while, we crammed into my mentor teachers car and headed for Gunsan. I have a really bad habit of over packing. Example: If I go to Elgin for 1 day, it's likely that I'll bring 4 outfits and at least 4 pairs of shoes. It's stupid, I know, but it happens..every.single.time. So imagine me packing for 6 months. Yeah, it was bad. Now that you've pictured that, imagine me and three tiny Korean ladies trying to get two HUGE suitcases, a duffle bag and other miscellaneous things I've accumulated into this little 4 door Hyundai Sonata. Yes, it went just about as badly as you're picturing it! Anyway, after we finished playing Tetris with the suitcases, we were finally on the road to get my Alien Registration Card (ARC). This card is crucial to getting paid and getting my cell phone and internet set up. I applied yesterday, but it'll take 3 weeks to get. From there, we went to my apartment. This is where things got really bad, and I felt like the worst person on the planet for packing enough clothes for 5 girls to move away for life. Not only is it me and my three new tiny Korean friends/co-workers, my landlord is this elderly, sweet as can be, Korean man. He can't be more than five feet tall! He runs out as soon as we pull up and immediately grabs the heaviest suitcase I have. I kept trying to tell him I would get it, but he insisted he would do it (and also probably didn't know what I was saying). Everyone is struggling to get all of my crap out of the car when I find out that I live on the third floor. Yes..the third floor...and no elevators. And since Koreans have proved to be the nicest people on the planet, none of them will let me carry my suitcases. I felt so awful! They were all struggling so bad, and grunting and sweating and breathing heavy. It was the worst. So we finally make it upstairs and get into my humble abode (surprisingly everyone made it up in one piece!), and it's as small as it looked in the pictures I saw before I got here, so I wasn't that surprised. Now that I've put all of my things up and gotten situated, I like it a lot more! I've even hung up a few pictures that I accidentally brought with me! Score! So after all of that mess, I was left alone and wanted to meet up with all of my friends placed in Gunsan as well. Brittney is the only one of us from UCO that isn't in Gunsan. We miss her already but we can't wait to go visit her! She's about 40 minutes east of us, so it's not bad! Plus, her city rocks and it gives us a good excuse to go shopping and do fun things in Jeonju!

Some of us met up at Lotte Mart (It's like a giant Wal-Mart basically!) Side story: When I was on
my way to Gunsan with my mentor teachers, I asked if Gunsan was big. They all three laughed at me and said, "Oh no, no!! So small, so small!" Tell me if this looks like a store that would be in a small town:

hahaha no!! It's huge here! But I guess Korea is just so overpopulated that this is a "small town". I tried to explain Elgin to them but they didn't understand! The population is roughly 278 thousand. That's not the small town I had in mind! haha I want to bring them all to my "small town" and see what they think. lol

Anyway, I digress, so we went shopping a little bit and had more pizza for dinner. It's really scary going into a Korean restaurant and not knowing how to order or what you'll get when you attempt to read the words. We need to learn how to get over that, but yesterday wasn't the day. If it makes it any better though, our pizza dough was seaweed based and had sweet potato in the crust? And we didn't go to a pizza place we have in America! Whoa..we're getting crazy! I got to see Kiyana and Laura's apartments. They live in the newer part of town with all of the coffee shops and shopping areas, so I'll be visiting often. I'm hoping I learn how to walk there but as of now, I just have to hail my own taxi (which I rock at) and tell them in Korean where I want to go (which I do not rock at, at all.) but somehow, it keeps working out for me! God is good, and with me everywhere I go in Korea! Kiyana and I decided a sleepover was in order, and made our way back to my house to get my stuff!

Today (Thursday) Kiyana and I did a little exploring and ate Subway!!! For the record, Korea doesn't do the 'Februany' like America, but that didn't stop us from getting a footlong and saving the other half for dinner. hahaha I've been craving Subway since I left and yesterday I found one in between our houses! It can be our weekly (or biweekly if we ever learn how to eat Korean food) meet up spot for dinner! It tastes EXACTLY like home and it's possibly greater than Chicken Soda or heated floors. And to make everything better, the girls that worked there were so incredibly nice, and knew what we were saying when we ordered in English! It was magical! After that, we booked it home to meet my mentor teacher. She was coming to take me to get a cell phone and a bank account. Her English is limited and my Korean is non-existant (unless you want me to say hello, nice to meet you, goodbye, or I'm an American), so it was a little tricky at times, but she was SO sweet and we figured everything out! I wasn't supposed to be able to get a phone until my ARC card came in, but she made me a cell phone plan under her name and I'll just pay it! I am so excited! I feel connected to the world again. If anyone wants to text me, download an app called Kakao and look me up by my phone number. Message me on Facebook at I will message you my Korean number! It's free international texting. It seems unreal, but technology is amazing and allows me to stay connected. I love it! I finally made it home and cleaned my house and unpacked. I'm not living out of suitcases for the first time in a month and it feels great! I feel like I'm finally home! It's taking some getting used to, but I love it here! I have a roof over my head, an awesome floor heater that I think I've finally figured out, five amazing friends in my city and another one just 40 mins East and I get to start teaching on Monday I think! I couldn't be happier and I a appreciate all of the messages and comments I keep getting! I love you all and am thankful for everyone with me on this journey!

Here is a reward of pictures for you if you've made it through that novel up there. Sorry it's so long, I'll try to not have such eventful days in the future! haha

Kiyana is one of the most friendly people I've ever met, but today really proved it. She went with me to the bank and while I was doing my paper work, she made a new friend. Old Korean's are so tiny! Look at this little lady! I turn around to check on Kiyana and I see her showing this little lady pictures of babies on her phone! There was obviously a huge language barrier, so the lady probably though Kiyana had 10 kids because she kept showing her pictures of babies, but it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. So cute, in fact, I risked being that creepy girl to get this photo:

The lady loved Kiyana and kept speaking to her in Korean and Kiyana just kept saying 'nay', which means yes in Korean. haha It was the greatest thing I've ever seen. So Kiyana left and got two waters from the 7 11 across the street and brought one back to the lady. Her tiny little face lit up and she came and sat beside Kiyana when she took care of all her banking business and talked to us for about 20 mins. Unfortunately it was all in Korean, but it was a great and awkward twenty mins!