Mud, Luggage, Apartments, and a Lack of English

Mud: Just got back to Seoul after four days out of town. Sarah, Sarah, and I went to Boryeong for a mudfestival and it was SO much fun. What does a mudfestival involve you might ask? Well, my friends, mudfestivals include hundreds of people on a beach playing with mud-- mudslides, mudpools, mudpits, mudpainting, mud jails (where you stand while people fling mud at you), mud masks, mud obstacle courses, mud pottery... so amusing. We stayed in a tiny little room that was right on the beach. It was perfect... we spent our time divided between playing with mud and frantically reading Harry Potter (we got our reserved copies on our way out of Seoul). I finished Harry Potter Monday... if anyone wants to discuss, send me an email.

Luggage: The trip did not end in Boryeong for Sarah W. and I. One of the purposes of our trip was to continue on to Daejeon (where I am moving) and drop off two of my bags. Sounds simple, right? Well imagine Sarah and I dragging two 50 lb bags to the Seoul metro. Within 10 minutes of our departure one bag's handle snaps in half (effectively leaving nothing to pull it with) and the other bag's handle gets stuck up (so not so easy to store anymore). We manage to get the bags up and down a million stairs and onto a jam-packed subway. Change stops with it multiple times (stopping to get Harry Potter and eat lunch with Sarah's great-aunt) before riding a bus to Boryeong, dragging bags down a dirt road, taking another bus to Daejeon, dealing with multiple forms of transportation there, and finally taking it to my apartment (where it moved up 4 flights of stairs)... one other lovely image... as I tried to drag the one that lost its handle it hit me in the back of my leg with every step. I looked like some weird Frankenstein lurching down the blocks. We were very relieved to leave my stuff behind.

Apartment: When I arrived at TCIS to drop off my stuff they offered to let me into my apartment and Sarah and I were able to stay there for the night. I was very excited to find that my new home is much bigger than I anticipated! It is only about 5 minutes from my school (so convenient!). I have a moderate sized living room and a good sized kitchen. My bedroom has a wardrobe and dresser. I have another little vanity type room with another dresser and wardrobe. I have a bathroom with a very interesting Korean-style shower... you know those sprayers that are attached to most American sinks? Well I have a slightly bigger version attached to my bathroom sink... I shower in front of my sink and the whole room gets wet. There is a small laundry room in my apartment as well. I am very excited that I got to see it while I was in town-- I wasn't expecting to.

Lack of English: No one in Daejeon speaks English... at least not compared to Seoul. None of the signs (or very few) are in English. The transportation system lacks English altogether... I am definitely going to have to learn some more Korean.

That's all for now, friends. I am eager to get to Daejeon for good and set up Skype so we can talk. Miss all! Love the many emails I've been getting :)