Sweden in Korea

According to my contract, my job comes with a semi-furnished apartment and a semi-furnished apartment is exactly what I got. The apartment came with a bed, a tv and stand, and a wardrobe. I needed a few more pieces of furniture but I didn’t really know where to go so I went to Ikea in Gwangmyeong.

Ikea in Korea is exactly like Ikea in the US, which is probably like Ikea everywhere else. You walk through a never ending maze of furniture, eat lunch, walk through the knickknacks, and end at the flatpack boxes. Normally, I’d take my boxes home in my car but I don’t have a car in Korea. I decided to have my furniture delivered.

Ikea had loads of English speaking clerks. I simply waited in line and a woman with great English started processing my order. Everything was fine until we came to the delivery options. It turns out that Ikea can only set up delivery for sometime in the next seven days. I was going away the next weekend so I needed something for the 9^th or 10^th day. This was impossible for them to schedule so I left without buying anything.

I got home, angry that I’d gone all the way to Ikea and came home empty-handed. I vowed to never go back. Well, that lasted about two more weeks. I tried to order from Gmarket and couldn’t make it work. None of my usual shopping spots carried furniture. I got tired of sitting on the floor and I went back to Ikea.

My second trip was way smoother because I knew what to expect. I already had my furniture picked out and I was prepared for the 7 day delivery thing. I wasn’t, however, prepared for the fact that Ikea cannot give you a delivery time if you’re not in Seoul. This meant that I could get a delivery anywhere between 9am and 9pm on the appointed day. I wasn’t happy with this but I dealt with it.

On the appointed day, my Ikea furniture came. The delivery arrived at 5:40pm, 8 hours and 40 minutes into the 12 hour delivery window. I’m happy with how the furniture came out but getting it here was definitely a mission. 

Directions to Ikea

1. From the Gwangmyeong station, take the east (I think) exit.

2.  Turn right and go under the covered walkway towards Costco. You'll see the Costco shortly.

3. Cross the small street and walk along the side of Costco until you get to the corner.

4. At the corner, turn to the left and you'll see Ikea and the Lotte Premium Outlets. Enjoy your flatpack furniture!

Keep Your Knees Covered

I’ve been coming and going to Korea since 2009. This last time, I was gone from 2013 to 2017. Somewhere in that time, a new habit started. Korean women now cover their knees when they sit down while wearing a skirt or dress.

In Korea, men and women are free to wear whatever they so choose. Now, sleeveless or lowcut tops are frowned upon but they aren’t illegal. A common outfit here is a miniskirt and a button-down blouse.

Since miniskirts are so prevalent, I don’t get the blanket over the knees. If you can see my knees while I’m standing, why are they suddenly offensive when I’m seated?

I looked this up on Google and found a few comments about this. Most seem to agree that this is done because, when seated skirts or dresses ride up a bit. If you’re wearing a micromini, this could be problematic. The blanket allows you to cross and uncross your legs without flashing anyone.

The logic behind this habit makes sense but it’s really hot outside. I don’t want to cover my knees with a fleece blanket. I have heard that some women carry scarves for this so they have something light and stylish. I’d be more inclined to do this but I never wear anything short enough to need it.

A basket of blankets at a coffee shop. I saw several women using them to cover their legs. 

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The pedicurist covered my legs for me. My shorts were not at all short.

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Becoming the Martha Stewart of Korea

Living in Korea means that some things require an adjustment. For example, I’ve gotten used to pretty much never knowing what’s going on. I just look around, see if I’m in immediate danger, and go from there. That, however, is something I expected. What I didn’t expect was to have to adjust my cooking.

When I first came, I knew I’d have to make some substitutions in cooking.  I didn’t expect Korean grocery stores to carry all of the same products. I’d read that cheese is less common so I knew not to expect a big selection of cheese at the grocery store. I’d also read that different spices were available and that more international products (like tortillas or hummus) are difficult to find. To combat this, I bring my favorite spices with me and improvise with the rest.

While I was ready to make ingredient substitutions, I wasn’t prepared to alter my style of cooking. Korean homes don’t have ovens and I never realized how much I used the oven until I got here. I’d read that you can easily buy an oven though. I tried to do this but really, only toaster ovens are readily available. I can’t bake a cake or roast a chicken in a toaster oven.

Since I didn’t have an oven, I had to learn to cook everything on the stovetop. I’ve even learned to make a few no-bake desserts using ingredients that are easy to find here. This wasn’t so bad when I lived in the big apartment with the 4 burner stove. Now, however, I live in a smaller place with a 2 burner stove.

The 2 burner stove brings even more challenges to cooking in Korea. Now, I have to use readily available ingredients, cook everything on the stovetop, and juggle my pots and pans to ensure that everything is hot and ready at the same time. To accomplish this last one, I’ve started making a lot of combo bowls. For example, on Monday, I wanted meat, rice, beans, and vegetables. Well, I made a stew-like dish with these items. It was easier to combine everything than to try to make them in 2 burner increments. The resulting stew actually tasted pretty good but it wasn’t the prettiest meal I’ve ever made.

Cooking in Korea is an adjustment I’ve had to make. It’s an adjustment, however, that will make me better. If I can learn to consistently make good meals on a small 2 burner stove, I’ll be giving Martha Stewart a run for her money in no time. 

Juggling 3 pots and pans

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I combined my zucchini and my pork to maximize burners

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 The resulting combo bowl

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Monday's stew-like concoction

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The spices I brought from America. I think my Abuela would approve of all of the Goya seasoning packets.

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Sleeping in the Rain

Sunday night, I started dreaming that I was at a pool and my nephew was shooting me with a water gun. The water gun started shooting out more and more water until I woke up and realized that it wasn’t a dream. I live alone and there was no creepy water gun toting intruder in my apartment. I was being rained on while asleep – asleep in my bed which is in my apartment and not outside.

Sometimes, everything about living abroad seems fun and exciting. Other times, I can’t help but wonder what series of poor decisions led me to this moment. Sleeping in the rain was definitely the result of poor decisions.

In this particular situation, everything stemmed from not learning to speak Korean. I only know about 20 words of Korean. I don’t even know the 20 most useful words of Korean. (Did you know that “nabi” (나비) is Korean for butterfly?) This means that in Korea, I’m really only half an adult. On a day to day basis, I’m fine but when something big happens, I need a real, full-fledged, Korean speaking adult.

Anyway, about two weeks ago, my air conditioner stopped working. At first, I thought it was because the batteries died in the remote control. I replaced the batteries but the unit still wouldn’t work. I pressed every combination of buttons and nothing but hot air would come out of the unit. I looked up an English manual for my a/c and it didn’t help. So, I turned to my designated real, full-fledged, Korean speaking adult aka my boss.

I went to school and told my boss my a/c wouldn’t work. I even brought him my unit’s remote to show it was on the correct setting. He didn’t say anything but I knew he’d assume since I can’t read Korean, I’m too dumb to operate an on/off switch. I was correct. He sent my co-worker over to my apartment to check and see if the unit was really broken or if I just didn’t know how to turn it on.

My poor co-worker had to come to my hot apartment and play with my a/c. She declared it broken and called the landlord. The landlord decided that two people, or 1.5 adults, weren’t competent to decide the unit was broken. She sent the building manager over to check out the situation.

The building manager came and played with the unit. He then declared it broken and called an a/c technician. It turns out that in Korea, technicians won’t come on a weekend so I had to wait.

Well, the tech came and verified that the unit was indeed broken. Unfortunately, the issue was the outside intake unit and it was raining heavily outside. So, he had to come back later in the day. That evening, he realized he needed a new part and it would take a few days to come in. Eventually it came and I got my a/c fixed but it was a long two weeks.

During this time, my apartment was hot and humid like a swamp. I slept with the windows open and that led to Sunday’s issue. It started to monsoon outside and the wind drove the rain into my bedroom. Hence, I got rained on while sleeping.

If I spoke Korean, this issue wouldn’t have been entirely avoided. My a/c unit didn’t break because I don’t speak Korean. The time frame, however, would have been shortened. My boss wouldn’t have felt the need to have someone check the unit was actually broken. Also, I could have spoken with the landlord myself, instead of having to wait for someone else to do it. I also could have, possibly, gotten a technician to come faster.

I’d like to say that this motivated me to learn Korean but it hasn’t. I’ll continue to be half an adult in Korea. But, at least I’ll be half an adult with working a/c and a dry bedroom. 

This A/C unit caused me a lot of problems!