Thursday, May 18, 2006

Seasons Change With the Scenery

All this month I've been coping with change. We recently moved from Hongdae to an apartment in the Itaewon area. Hopefully we'll be here until we move AGAIN to Toronto!
The issue with change is a combination of a fear of the unknown future and mourning the loss of what you had before. For example, our old neighborhood was up and coming, filled with art and music. We had our bank and grocery store super close and there was a bathhouse (not gay, for families) we really loved. There was a really great gym there as well.
Our new apartment came with only one bedroom and no closets for our many clothes so we had to adjust to that. I have three keys to worry about losing now instead of just one. I have a new route go to work that requires two subway changes instead of one (read here to see why that's a big deal for me!). The new apartment is above a dry cleaners and it's much noisier here than the residential area that we used to live in. And finally the landlord wants us to put our toliet paper in the trash instead of the toliet. So I have to overcome 32 years of habit now!
However with change comes the pleasure of discovery! Our new neighborhood is much more diverse in terms of GIs, Muslims, Africans, English teachers, mixed race couples and "the gays" like us! There are tons more places to go for lunch and dinner. There is a beautiful nearby park on Namsan mountain that we easily walk to. There is a cute little green bus (#3) with a fearless driver that will pick us up and take us to the nearest subway stop (line 6), line 1, Yongsan Electronic Market and Space Nine (Yongsan/KTF Station)! The best is that all our friends come to this area often anyway so we are a 15 minute walk from meeting them for coffee, meals, drinks or dancing!
Our apartment is on the 1st floor which is much more convenient than our old one on the third floor. I don't miss the trashy neighbors with the stupid dogs that would bark every night without fail as I climbed those three flights of stairs! Plus I loved discovering that, every time we open the door of our new apartment , it plays a new little song! Sometimes it's Happy Birthday or Clementine! My challenge is to "Name that Tune" before the door closes and the music ends! My favorite thing now is to come back to my favorite subway station, walk home with a night view of Namsan (Seoul) Tower and then finally get home to my favorite person! See? Change can be good!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a possitive attitude! I hope everything continues to go well for you in your new surroundings. I can't wait to hear about your change to Canada! Thanks for keeping me (and everyone else) posted. I love reading your entries.
lena

wwwavvve said...

Change ... can't live with it, can't live without it. You'd think after all the moving we've done we'd be used to it by now. Nope ... it's still challenging. But we keep doing it. :) You're a trooper my friend! Even though Toronto is a long way from Vancouver, I'm still looking forward to your arrival. Enjoy the summer darling! Luv your work too!