Motel Life

The first few days of 'freedom' for us. We finally left Jeonju University!! We had lunch at a sit-down (just a low table, no chairs) restaurant for bibimbap, then were escorted to a parking lot where we met our co-teachers. I met my co-teacher whose name is Phie, Jae-soon, and my principal of Ugok Middle School. I will be teaching between 4 schools for the next 4 months: Ugok Middle School, Daejin Middle School, Daejin Elementary School, and DaSan Middle School. It's going to be a lot of work, but apparently I get an extra 150,000W stipend for my troubles. Both mine and Aaron's co-teachers are really nice, so this is a nice start ^-^ Aaron and I originally wanted to live in Goryeong, but because the way my school schedules are laid out, I would need to take a bus out of Goryeong to go to Daegu (a major city), then take a different bus back towards Goryeong to go to my school.

When we arrived in Daegu, it was too late to look for an apartment, so we had to find a motel to stay in for the night. The first motel we went to, we were rejected on the spot because it was full (also noted were the pics of naked women in front of the doorway). Thus, our first experience with a love motel. The second motel we were rejected due to the nature of our stay (we wanted to stay a night, but the proprietor stated we were only allowed an hour). The third motel we were rejected due to the size of our luggage. Finally, at our last motel, we were accepted and placed oddly on the 5th floor even though most of the hotel was empty @_@ It's a somewhat creepy room and quite different from Canadian motels/hotels. At least ours was. I am sure that a higher class motel or hotel would be much more similar to North American hotels. The sheets and towels are clean, but they did not clean off the tables nor give new soap. Our shampoo, toothbrushes, razors, and toothpaste came in a package. The body soap is shared in a bottle and the used hand soap just stays in a dish between patrons. Our aircon was somewhat sufficient, but the room was still stuffy enough that we used the fan the entire night. I found it entertaining that I could operate the TV and turn off all the lights with just a push of a button on the remote on our nightstand. ^-^ Easily entertained J!

It was somewhat difficult to sleep as I woke up frequently in unfamiliar surroundings. The next day was when we were to meet my co-teacher to look for apartments. We went down to find breakfast (two rice balls and a bottle of tea from 7-11). It was interesting to see everything from outside our motel room. There was someone selling squid in a tank outside our motel, a lot of vendors selling food and toys from the side of the road (or on the road), and there is a huge park and amusement park. The most interesting thing I have seen so far is the fact that there appears to be no left turns. Instead, there is a lane for U-turns, which I have found work quite effectively.

We ended up only going to look at three apartments in two buildings. The first one was a small one room apartment (with a narrow bathroom and narrow kitchen), which we dismissed immediately. The second one, which was right down the hall, was a roomy two bedroom apartment with a huge kitchen and larger bathroom. We liked it, but it was a bit too large for us. The last apartment, which we ended up choosing, was around two blocks away. It is on the third floor and has one large bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a place to hang our wet clothing. The bathrooms I have seen so far are quite efficient and there is no separate shower. Instead, there is a hose with a shower head attached to it. You stand pretty much anywhere in the bathroom and take shower. No bathtub either T_T
Well, hopefully we can get the apartment. The landlord is working today and does not want to sign the contract until Monday.... Two more days to go.... Two more nights in the motel @_@