The Breakfast & The Front Door

It might sound a bit dramatic calling it "The Breakfast" in the title, but to Mark and I it is a piece of Americana Heaven. When we stayed at Vicky's the first week, we were a bit challenged with breakfast that consisted of rice, fish/seaweed soup, and vegetables ever day. So, now that we are cooking our own meals we have found GREAT pleasure in fried eggs on pan-fried toast (cooked in butter of course!). The eggs in Korea are WONDERFUL. They are all rich and delicious ... I think free-range is the only kind of eggs there are, which explains the wonderful taste.

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Now, about "The Front Door". Everyday we come home and the door is splattered with advertisements from local restaurants, take-out, English schools, Tae Kwon Do classes, supermarkets ... you name it and our door wears it. We clean it off and the next day there is more that has been taped on.

Though, I have to confess that it works, even for this American. Vicky ordered-in these wonderfully spicy Korean BBQ chicken wings and I wasn't sure where to find them. Well, guess what was on my door today. :o)

FYI: The cost on the flyer is w13,000 which equates to about $9.

This pile of flyers is right next to our door ... this is what happens to them after they have graced our neighbor's door. At least it is a cheerful and brightly colored mess, don't ya think! :o)

The other thing that adorns our door (and that which is permanent) are all of these stickers for local locksmiths. We learned from Vicky that they can be very helpful if you get locked out. Can you believe how many stickers there are ... and yes, they are different numbers!

And here is the close-up...

And our door nob ... can't be without its own sticker too!!!

Doing Laundry: Korean Style

The Set-up: The washing machine (Blue Bertha) is in our bathroom. Koreans have "wet" bathrooms, which essentially means that the entire room can get wet, drain on the floor, etc. Now, before you wash you have to hook the water hose up to the spigot (cold only), put the drain hose by the drain, and plug in Bertha (don't worry the electrical outlet is high on the wall!)

Accessories in a Wet Bathroom: It is very important to have a drain on the floor, tiles on the floor and walls, and "wet" slippers. These allow you to maneuver through the bathroom without getting your socks/feet/regular slippers wet. And the floor does get wet ... you need the slippers. I didn't understand at first either, but now I am a believer!


Drying: Most Korean apartments have a room that is set-up for drying clothing, because they don't have dryers. It is standard for Korean housing to have them situated in front of the windows, thus using the sunshine to speed along the process.

Drying Accessories: This banister (in the drying room) is a helpful accessory for drying odds and ends. I plan on purchasing a drying rack very soon, but I don't have one yet.

Laundry Thank You: I would like to take this moment to thank you Mom for exampling how to dry clothes on a line. I know I spent years complaining and wondering why you didn't use a dryer like a "normal" mom. But now I appreciate all of those things I learned ... like hand ironing!