Nesting: Part 1: the generic army apartment

I'm a nester. I love to make our home personal, cozy, warm, inviting, comfortable, and all those other phrases the shelter mags use. I follow blogs, read magazines and even buy books about the topic. So now, it's time to share with you some of our home away from home! First off are some pictures of our home after we received our Unaccompanied baggage. meaning we had a few comforts, but not much.

Our entry hall. We actually have two of these.

 

View from entry hall. This is all government loaner furniture that we kept.

This is actually one of my favorite features of our home,
because we are high, we have an amazing view of the mountains.
We purchased plants and plant stands in our first week here. Stateside we always keep a garden and put flowers out.

From the balcony, it's a very generously sized room.

Two views of the kitchen. The right side originally had two tall cabinets, but we swapped one tall out for a counter height cabinet from the laundry room. Who knew that cabinetry could be so easily reaaranged. I've heard of some folks doing a full on switch of the kitchen and laundry.

Kitchen left side, yes it's small as it looks and
o your eyes aren't deceiving you, there is only one drawer in the entire kitchen.

This is the VERY long hall that runs the length of our apartment.

From this angle, you are looking at the dining room we just left. The main bathroom and four of the bedrooms open off of this hallway, with the 5th bedroom door frame being visible on the right of the picture. The double doors on the left are one of two large closets located on the hall. Which are very nice for storage.

These are views of the master bedroom, with the government issue queen size bed. 

 Child bedroom 1, no A/C in this room.

Child room number 2

Child room number 3

(I did warn him that I was taking pictures for the blog the day I took these.)

 

And Child room #4, it's the smallest, but he's so happy to have his own room, he doesn't mind.

And finally the last living area. We didn't keep any of the furniture in this room. We also didn't put a TV in our unaccompanied baggage, so the couch was arranged to face the computer screen :).
There is an area to the right that goes back about 4-5 feet, which is where an arm chair is placed.
And we have a second balcony. Off of this room is also a laundry room, which was formally a kitchen, it has a nice sized pantry that we use as the army closet. Unfortunately, I forgot a before picture, but it's pretty much like the other kitchen just with a washer and dryer instead of refrigerator and stove.

I also forgot to get pictures of the bathrooms, so I'll include those in the next blog of how it's no longer generic. But, here are some quirky little features that wouldn't otherwise get featured.

Flower shaped light covers in both large living areas.

The curtain tracks, over every window

The triple level windows: a screen, a clear glass sliding panel,
and a frosted glass sliding panel. These are in every bedroom.

-the familiarity of the unfamiliar.

a free concert at the lake

I mentioned on facebook the other day, that my sweet husband had a thought as we were walking toward Suseong Lake after a delicious dinner, that it seemed as though we were walking in a foreign country, then he realized "We ARE walking in a foreign (to us) country." That may seem like an odd realization for an American living in South Korea, but I completely understood his sentiment. While there are MANY things that are new and that we don't understand (every street sign we see). This place has become our home and there are many things that have quickly become familiar. We have learned the bus schedule between posts, we have familiar paths to places we go regularly, we understand the subway system, and have favorite snacks, drinks, and shops. There are certain businesses that we see wherever we go, like "Angels-in-us Coffee", some form of market on every street, "Paris Baguette", and chicken restaurants on every block.


There are places that remind us of home as well (even if the menu doesn't)

Yup the Golden Arches are nearby, except I don't think that I've ever seen a shrimp burger on the menu before.

I'd rather see a Krispy Kreme..

I doubt the big gulp is as big as in the US

But, of course, in the land of coffee shops (often multiple on one block)
Starbucks is going to have a presence.

Of course each of these places have a local spin, like macaroons instead of Lemon pound cake at the Starbucks, but it's a nice touch of the familiar in a world where every outing is an adventure. We're starting to develop some favorite Korean foods like Bulgogi, KimBap, Japchae, and of course the many varieties of ice cream treats that you can pick up at the corner markets for less than 1000 won.

We have also begun navigating the Korean medical system. As we establish follow up care for Keilah. Her next appointment wasn't due until September, but since I don't know how long things take, and it seems new doctors want more involvement than "ok, nice to meet you, I'll see you in a year". I went ahead and jumped on getting referrals. Which happened quickly. There are three hospitals in Daegu that accept TriCare, we had visited one, but our doctor referred us to another based on her patients past experiences. Each of these hospitals have an International Health Service Center. This center provides English speakers to help with your medical care. In our case, the Health center called us when they received the referral and made our appointment. We were told to arrive early, and when we couldn't quite find their office, they walked to meet us. The individual from the office helped us with our paperwork and then went with us through every step of the appointment. She interacted with all the office staff and then explained what would be happening next and making all follow up appointments as well as scheduling tests. In our case, after we met the doctor he ordered a PET scan and the regular blood work (which actually seemed like more than she's had before, as they took several tubes this time).

Koreans understand customer service-Full coverage hospital PJ's and slippers
instead of the American style no-coverage gown.

Interesting thing about bloodwork, instead of checking in and then being taken to a room, all the attendants are seated at a long counter, and you sit in the waiting area facing them, in what is basically a wide hallway. You go up to the counter, confirm your information, and give your blood while sitting across from them, much like when sitting for a manicure. It was quite efficient and it turns out Korean children don't like giving blood any more than some American kids. One poor child had to be held by 3 attendants to get his necessary work.  When we returned two days later for the PET our same attendant met us and escorted us to the area and helped explain each step. Since it's a two hour procedure, she didn't wait for the whole thing, and then the front desk called her when we were done, so that she could explain that we were now free to go, and gave us the appointment for getting results-dependent on another referral. This was the one part that confused me and required a trip to the Tri-care liaison. While we would get a referral state side that was good for either multiple visits or 1 year, in order to make sure that our PCM is getting up to date information on their patients care the specialist reports to the PCM and requests an additional referral with explanation of the need. They also send all tests/results in ENGLISH so that they can be scanned into your permanent record that will travel back with us to the states. Once I understood that purpose, I appreciated the extra step. And fortunately it required nothing from us. 

Day 36-and cantankerous!

that's what i've been feeling all day. Good things are happening and I'm just determined to be, well, cantakerous. I just read a friend's post and apparently she's been going through the same things. Make's me wonder as we're both facilitating bible studies at PWOC. Yup, start telling people about Jesus, or encourage them to learn more about God and Satan gets his panties in a wad. You know, I've always thought it funny that folks can believe in Aliens, ghosts, and all other sorts of hobgoblins, but you mention Satan as a real creature and folks look at you like YOU are the alien. Just find that interesting.

I know my grammar and typing are a bit off, but I just needed to get that off my chest. Already I feel a bit lighter. Getting my focus off of me and onto Jesus and it's like sunshine breaking through heavy cloud cover.

Just a little while until I'm whole again. I'm so thankful that my day count will end well before 50, especially when I thought I was going to be counting to 180! What a blessing and a bit of prep work for when the next one does come along. I'm VERY thankful for the friends I've made here and my sisters at PWOC who are willing to help through the trials of military life. I hope all of you have similar, whether you're military or not! A friend in need is a friend indeed! But, I also have a friend that is closer than a brother (or sister)! And for Him i am eternally grateful!

Blessings