Roommates

The first couple of weeks in Seoul I noticed a construction site on the corner. It was the skeleton of a huge apartment building. I would pass the construction workers and notice the similarities between my building and what was being built. Even more noticeable was how quickly it was constructed. The building was finished after about two weeks of work. I was baffled and impressed by the work ethic and efficiency. I began to notice other huge buildings in our neighborhood going up in the same amount of time. I wondered how they did it? Perhaps they worked all night? Or used different methods?

My building was brand new when I moved in. I was so delighted and felt so lucky to have such a modern apartment. After about a month, the honeymoon period was over. I had no heat. The ondol (heated floor) did not work in my apartment. I had to sleep in layers with blankets over my head.

I thought that I would be living alone here but I have had some roommates. The first to move in was mold. It started off as little speckles of blue and black. I notified my landlord who looked at it and said "It is not mold. That is from a temperature change." He suggested using my air conditioner. Hmmm OK. So I got some spray and and watched as the "temperature change" moved across my kitchenette sink over to the light fixture. Most days it would mushroom into green, blue and black. I told my coteacher that it needed to be fixed or I wanted a new apartment. The landlord came over and discovered (surprise, surprise) that there was a leak.

I had to move out for a couple of days while the workers fixed the repair. The leak actually started above my bathroom. I came in one day before work when my bathroom ceiling was torn down. Whenever the person that lives above me flushed, water came down on my bathroom floor. Well, that obviously explains the stench that I had been living with.

After the mold was kicked out the stench, that I had believed was caused by mold, remained. I couldn't figure out where it came from. The smell was a mix of sewage, mildew and shit. I told the landlord about it before but he claimed he couldn't smell it (how convenient). I figured out the smell was coming from my drains. I was not eager to have the useless landlord over again. I cover the drains up whenever I can. So the stench is still here.

Another roommate that has moved in is water. When it rains, I can expect weird water bubbles to appear on my wall. They also show up in the hallway of our building and the water trickles down through the wall onto the floor. So on every floor you have wetness and random, small puddles.

After repairing my ceiling, They installed a new light fixture in my bathroom. A couple of weeks ago the person above me slammed the door and the light fixture fell and shattered. The landlord (aka my new best friend) came over and installed a new one. It burnt out about five days after he put it up.

And for my last roommate, the one who has been living here the longest. As far as I can tell, it is tarnish or rust. And it is EVERYWHERE. My lovely new faucets are completely covered with brown and black rust. THIS BUILDING ISN'T EVEN SIX MONTHS OLD. My shathroom faucets are covered. My washing machine is covered. My stove is covered. MY JEWELRY IS COVERED. Yep, I am hoping silver polish will get rid of it. I buy earrings and two weeks later they are covered in rust.

So I think I know the secret of the quickly constructed apartment buildings. They are made of cardboard and plastic. They look nice enough so people want to live there. Once people are hooked and committed then the little things start to appear. I will remain here until March. Probably. With my roommates, stench, water and rust. Mold still pops by for a visit but only for a little bit.

The good news-I live here rent free.