The Big Move

Thursday the 27th was moving day. The moving man arrived at 8am on the nose and we were surprised when he said he had come alone. He only had a one ton, uncovered truck and we had been stressing the night before that all of our stuff wouldn't fit. This man was so amazing; he not only got all of it to fit, he did it in an hour and even covered it in time when it started to downpour.

B left at 8:30 so that he could be in Seoul to sign the new apt. papers by 11. Chomps and I followed on a different bus and arrived in Seoul at the new apt. at noon. The moving man had already been there and dropped all of our stuff off. Immediately after arriving, our realtor took us to some 2nd-hand shops in order for us to find appliances & furniture. (Three shops and three days later, our place is fully furnished).

We call this the bowling alley; our long, thin "living room" that is now our comp. room. the door with the windows is the entrance to our place.

This is when you enter. To the left is the study, the right is the kitchen, bath and spare room, thru the door on your left is the living room, and thru the door on your right is our bedroom.

Our kitchen (the fridge is aptly named "Tank")

Our study that should be the living room...

Chomps posing for the cam. The door frame in the right hand corner is our living room.

The living room.

Our bedroom.

3rd bedroom/our storage room. The people b4 us left that nice hanging curtain!

The room that gave us the most trouble...what a mess it was.

Today was B's 1st day of classes at his new job. He left at 10:45am and is teaching 2 classes today. He got all dressed up for the big occasion and I snapped a photo. My classes start on Wednesday.

B all ready for his 1st day at his new uni gig!

So far we're satisfied with our choice to be in this quiet area; it doesn't even seem like we're living in Seoul. As soon as we hop on a bus and ride for 5 mins, though, we're quickly reminded of where we're living. We're hoping that we find some fellow ex-pats in this area to help pass the evenings and such with. For now, though, we're just getting to know our surroundings.

Workshop

Today I (H) went into my new workplace for a day-long workshop with my new colleagues. I met most of the ex-pat staff, which includes a total of about 15 of us. Everyone was eager to be there and I got a lot out of the day. In the afternoon I went to immigration and went through the hassle of changing my address, getting a new visa for a new job, and getting a multiple entry stamp. Luckily I made a reservation or I would still be there...B goes into his school tomorrow to pick up his contract and head to immigration (since our visas are up soon).

Thursday is the big moving day! The movers are supposed to be in Wonju at 8am and hopefully we'll be in our new place by early afternoon. B will go first, armed with cleaning supplies and our bank book (to pay the rest of the deposit) and Chomps and I will hopefully follow with the moving truck. We won't have any appliances so our main goal will be to buy the basics as soon as we're in. We've found a 2nd hand appliance shop near our new place, so hopefully they'll have good deals on Thursday. It's exciting to be moving but tough to say goodbye to our nice friends in Wonju. We had a going away party a few nights ago and we were happy that everyone came out to help us say goodbye to Wonju.

Goodbye dinner.

The Women of Wonju: Adele, H, Rox and Tiff.

The guys trying to pull off a decent pose.

Korea: Round 4

We've arrived back to Korea after a nice vacation back home in the States. We were able to meet up with lots of family and friends and had a really enjoyable time. Here are a few pics from our time at home:

We flew over Mt. Fuji on our way home.

With Mom & Emma b4 she got her braces off.

With long-time friends Jvonne & Tanya.

Meeting up with high school friends Anna, Amanda, & their families.

Visiting Em's house and playing with her adorable family.

Camping in Somerset

Tubing the Apple River (beer cooler not shown)

On Hardy Lake with the neighbor kids.

The Heads!

Now that we're back in Wonju, we're on a time-crunch to get everything organized for our big move to Seoul. We move on the 27th of August, so we've got a week left. We've been trying to hang out with friends as much as possible, since we won't really be seeing them once we move to the big city. We're also busy trying to arrange for appliances and furniture so that our move will be as easy as possible (since we're leaving this school, they get to keep their furniture and appliances). Finally, we're attempting to make syllabi for our upcoming start at university. It's a bit daunting planning whole classes out, but we're on the right track! Thanks again for those of you who took time out to meet us. We really appreciate a strong base back home!!