Foot wells and mountains!

Orientation is being held in Jeonju City at Jeonju University. The city is about a 3 hour bus ride from Incheon. The facilities at the university are really nice, modern and clean. After living here, my apartment may end up being a let down... but I'm enjoying this while it lasts. The rooms are quite small, but the space is used very efficiently. SKorea is a very small country and the people have become very good at maximizing the space they have. When you walk in to the room, there is a "foot well" where you must leave your shoes.

Floors are highly valued in Korean culture, because traditionally they have been used for things such as eating and sleeping. For that reason, we don't wear shoes on the floors. I will admit, my roommate and I often forget and have to race to the footwell to deposit our shoes. Eventually we will remember! The foot well is an adjustment, but getting used to the bathroom is more of an adjustment. The bathroom is one space with a toilet, sink, shower, and drains in the floor.

There is no shower curtain/stall. This means that EVERYTHING in the bathroom gets soaked when you shower. The toilet paper has a metal cover that is supposed to keep it from getting wet, but it doesn't really do the job. The floors are angled so that the water from the shower flows in to the drains. We were given special flipflops to wear in the bathroom post-showering, so that we can sort of stay dry. It's interesting. It makes sense, but is still difficult to get used to. The rest of the room is pretty typical of a dorm room in the states, with the exception of better storage here and an INCREDIBLE view!

The first morning I woke up ridiculously early and watched the sunrise over the mountains! I'm now waking up every morning to see it! I hope to take some good pictures of it to post soon! I have so much to share, but am still fighting jet lag and need to get some rest. Will post more later... Love you all!