Books and Boarding Passes: We've moved... again!

It's been a couple of weeks since our last post because we had a lot going on. We are beyond exhausted from the past 8 days. Mostly because we've learned that thinking logically in Korea will get you nowhere. It's now a joke for us that we frequently use.

Last week we both went to get our health checks so that we can get our ARC cards. Finally! We haven't gotten them yet but it shouldn't be more than two weeks, tops. Once we get those we can get phones and Nicole can get a debit card and we can both start transferring money back to our USA bank accounts. We're tired of this waiting game & we just want it to be done.

Last week was a decent week for both of us. We were very excited for our move to our new apartment. We moved in last Sunday (May 26). Where we live now is Galma-dong. We are loving our new apartment. We still have a few things to get but we've already accumulated a lot. We even have a futon for our extra bedroom. Free and comfortable futon = awesome! Some rearranging and unpacking and cleaning still needs to be done but we are working on all of that a little bit each day.

This past week was a rough week for both of us. We were exhausted from the move & all that we had to do last Sunday. John ended up getting a cold from the dust & cleaning supplies that engulfed our apartment. Thankfully he is mostly over it now. On top of his cold it rained all day Monday & Tuesday; of course we didn't have umbrellas until Monday evening. We're surprised both of us aren't very sick. John did a lot of running around to get random errands during the week while also trying to get extra sleep to kick his cold. Halfway through the week he also ran out of deodorant & Korea doesn't use/sell it. Nicole spent about an extra 2 hours each day getting to & from work for several reasons: trying to figure out bus routes, a flat tire on her bike, & having to be at work early most days for Parent-Teacher Interviews. Have we mentioned that we're completely drained? Also, we didn't have internet until Thursday night in our new apartment so getting any other work done while we were at home was near impossible. At this point in time we are just happy that the week is over & that we've had a pretty relaxing weekend.

A map of some of the bus stops in Daejeon. This is 1 of 8
different bus maps. There are different bus routes on each &
they all are this busy or more.

We've learned a lot about the bus system here in Daejeon but still not enough! There are just way too many routes that go all over, yet only 2-4 manage to go anywhere near Nicole's school. We're still trying to figure out the best bus route. Especially now that her bike is still in the shop we took it to to get fixed. The bus caused a lot of stress & wasted time this week. Not what either of us needed!

Despite the crazy week we've had, we have enjoyed a few new bars & restaurants. We went to a new bar called Dada & it was amazing. It didn't smell like smoke! We also went to the ever-so-popular foreign bar Yellow Taxi for the first time. We went to an International Food Festival & had food from Pakistan, France, Uzbekistan, & more. We ate at a restaurant with "hangover soup" - a little bit spicy for Nicole's taste but it was still delicious. We discovered 2 new marketplace areas. We're still always discovering new places.

In other news... John opened up a bank account here! He gets his first full paycheck on Monday. We found out Smoothie King is walking distance from our apartment & enjoyed having that a couple of times this week. John had a minor crash with his bike (no injuries or bike malfunctions, just a bruise). Nicole got some free postcards & clothes from a friend who organized a "clothing exchange". We received some new needed items for cheap. And we booked our tickets to Thailand today!!

We are going to Thailand during our summer "vacation". It's only a week long, but that's long enough for us to have some adventures in another country. We are going with a couple of our friends. We're so excited & our countdown has officially begun. 54 days until vacation!