More Unhappy Discoveries (19 July)

M comes to my apartment to see how bad the mould is and she shows me how best to use some of the products that I’ve bought whose instructions are obviously written in Korean.  I’ve already started washing all of my clothes just in case there is mould of them and I’ve separated the more expensive items to be taken in for dry-cleaning.  She takes me to a good chain of dry-cleaners where several other people are also handing in clothes affected by mould.  The good news is that they assure me that they’ll be able to remove the mould from all five items and it’s not going to cost me a fortune to do so.  I’m amazed that the total dry-cleaning bill is less than 15,000 won.

From there, we head to KEB (Korea Exchange Bank) where M helps me to open another account.  The transfer fees for international money transfers are reportedly far cheaper at KEB than my current bank.   In addition, their staff generally speak more English and their website is available in English.  It would make more sense for foreign teachers to be taken to KEB to open accounts rather than other banks unless KEB is not available in their area.

New Possibilities

After lunch, M drops me off at an apartment that is becoming available.   Another foreign teacher who I know is moving to Seoul and is looking for someone to take over the apartment.  Although I heard about the apartment a few weeks ago, I couldn’t afford the key money (deposit) required.  Fortunately, this amount has recently been reduced and is now in my budget.  The apartment is beautiful!  I’ve barely stepped through the door and I know that I want to live there, which is what I tell M when I meet her back at her school where I hang out until it’s time to leave for my acupuncture appointment.

You're Married?

At the GMC, Cute Doctor is extremely chatty.  He seems in no hurry to leave today and I’ve realised that there’s a pattern in his behaviour:  Every second week, he is very chatty.  He asks me how I’m enjoying Korea and how long I think I’ll be living here.  Korea has just been awarded the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics and he’s happy to hear that I’m hoping to be around for the Olympics; so eager, in fact, that he quickly counts the number of years until then and tells me that he’s happy to know that I’ll be around for a while still.   He then asks me if I’m planning to get married in Korea.  I respond that I have no idea what will happen and turn the question on him.  His answer completely throws me off track though when he tells me that he is married and his wife lives in Gwangju.  I’ve never been more confused than I currently am as I leave the GMC trying to figure out what, on earth, has been going on and head directly to Catfish’s apartment to share this latest discovery.