Officetel Life

Week one I tried to unpack and improve upon my modest Officetel. The former occupant's belongings were my first problem. He moved on the subway and couldn't carry all his stuff, which stinks for him, but then he left a pile of stuff and a fridge full of food and made it stink for me. :( Hanging the curtain rod also became unrgent as the sun blasted in through the window at 5:30am. Good morning sleepy teacher! I tried to hang it with nails, it fell down. I went to the store and asked gfor screws and the clerk just shrugged at me, uncomprehending. I jerry-rigged it with duck tape; down it crashed. In streamed the early morning sun. Finally, I drew a diagram and marched back to the E-mart for the gosh darned screws.
It was a confusing week, but I tried to take it with a sense of humor. The shelves in my apartment are much too high for me, and they were designed and built by Koreans for Koreans. Hmm. I decided that they must have a sense if humor, as well. :) Steve wasd planning a business trip, then he wasn't, and then he was again. School rushed by, a stream of connections and miscommunications. Mrs. L. asked sweetly, "Did the students at Poly School UNDERSTAND your American accent?" Meaning, what, exactly? (My "American" accent? There's only one?)
I struggled with the CD rom system (which I am supposd to use in most lessons) at school, and with getting my internet set up at home. It seemed like right after my warm reunion with Steve he was off again, leaving me alone in my white bathrobe in his exectutive apartment. Then ther monsoons returned in earnest. The 80 or so Korean words that I know didn't fit into enough correct sentences to get around well in my neighborhood. One night as it poured rain, I couldn't have my favorite fried chicken delivered from the local Kochon Chicken, because I couldn't correctly pronounce the name of my street in Korean. Such is life in the Korean suburbs without the buffer of Korean helpers.
Then, thankfully I did have a fun night out on the town with my hillarious pal Angi. She has had her own joys and misadventures, and just laughing over a beer and stories, IN ENGLISH, restored me. School tires me out but socializing with fellow foreigners is key to defeating isolation.