Over the past few weeks, I've collected some much needed items. The best part? All of it was given to me for free. I wish I had some pictures to share, but as I mentioned before, no camera.
A bike!
One of the best things I like about living in Korea is the ability to walk a short distance and have access to almost anything that I need. However, there are some things across town that I would like to get to that would take me about 30-40 minutes walking. I don't really know all of the buses so I recruited a friend to help me find a bike online. Later, I found out that the teacher that I replaced actually bought a bike while he was here and left it with one of the other teachers. Luckily, that other teacher isn't much of a bike rider so he gave it to me. It is kind of a long bike, and it sort of looks like it belongs to an older woman, but I like it. It gets me across town in a jippy, and it has a basket and rack so that I can carry stuff with me. I've gotten some looks from some of the locals (I haven't ever seen a foreigner on a bike before), but I enjoy life in the spotlight.
A couch!
One of the things I wanted since I got here was a couch. I have a wide open living area that is perfect for a couch. My back was also hurting from sitting on the floor using the computer or watching TV. There are also some days where I would like to come in and just pass out on the couch; it's a little hard to do that when you just have a hard wood floor. I looked on the Internet and through stores; I could get a decent one for about $140. I didn't feel that comfortable spending that money for something that has just a temporary use. I even looked around dumpsters for people trying to get rid of their old furniture (Koreans have to pay a hefty fee to have furniture put in the trash). One day, I got a text message from my fellow teacher telling me that there were rumors of couches sitting outside a nearby hotel. I dashed out the door and sure enough there were couches, tables, and TV stands. My fellow teacher joined me to help me carry one back, but I felt a little uncomfortable just taking it. She went inside and asked and sure enough it was trash; they even welcomed us to take it (remember the hefty furniture disposal fee I mentioned?). Not only did I take a couch, but I also added a table on top for my computer. Now, I have a nice little set up in my place. I now have a place where I can pass out watching TV.
AFN!
Mentioning TV, that reminds me about my recent discovery of AFN, which stands for the American Forces Network. This is a TV channel for American soldiers in Korea and has shows from back in the US (even though the shows are a day old). My fellow teachers had it in their apartment, but I didn't have it in mine. One night, one of my Korean friends came over and started watching my TV. They were a little disappointed that I only had like 4 channels so they pressed this button on my remote that searched for more channels. After that, we were flipping through the stations, and there it was - AFN! I had never seen anything so glorious before (well, that's exaggerating a little)! I finally have some TV that I can understand! It's filled with lots of military propaganda, but I could care less. Now, I can watch Leno, Letterman, SNL, American news (occasionally), The View, Dr. Phil, among others. Sadly, still no Conan.
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