Moving

Moving in is usually no small task as it implies moving out and in at the same time. However in our case we moved out more than three months ago and didn’t actually moved in until very recently. So we had plenty of time in between to have a rest. A much needed rest as both moving were exhausting but in different ways.

Throwing out my youth

The moving out was more of a psychological challenge. Over the years I learned to get rid of material things. But so far I never had to throwaway a single videogame related item. Not once (except for those games “borrowed” by “friends”). I guess nothing is forever though. When I got married, long time ago (!), I knew this dreadful day would somehow eventually come. So I had time to prepare myself, but still…

Luckily not everything is lost, never to be seen again, actually quite a few items went to nice people. Knowing that they are in good hands for many years yet to come made it easier to split with them. I may even see them again (people included) ! :-)

And then we had to get rid of other stuff. Furniture, clothes, kitchen appliance, food, etc. It’s amazing to see how hard it is to give things, even for free, to people. But we eventually did pretty good.

Settling

Finding a house in Seoul was slightly harder than expected, but we did it in three weeks. That could have been much worse. Except there is one thing I ignored until I stepped in the flat for the first time. Here, people leaving don’t need to clean up. That’s up to the guys entering the house. At first I wouldn’t have said the house was dirty.

I spent a whole week cleaning up the kitchen before it would be even remotely usable. Starting with tearing off two layers of horrible wallpapers to reveal tiles (and tearing off tiles as well :P). Sponging pool of oil around the cooker. And ending up taking out the entire cooker to clean up behind it.

Then  I  we spent a few more days cleaning up the fridge and the whole kitchen. Every evening, when going to bed, thinking “good job, that’s it, done !” and next morning realizing that there is one more layer of dirt to clean up.

Then we had to clean up our bedroom (sleeping in living room so far), change wallpaper, paint a few stuff. And when the washing machine came, it was so dirty, we she cleaned it up for two entire days. Except it didn’t work when she finally connected it. So we changed it for a new one, and checked it was clean before accepting the deal.

Every time we go out, we check if people throw away something interesting. We picked up a few thing. Most important, a table to eat. She, all by herself, renovated it. Now it looks exactly, or even better, as the 250$ table we saw in shop. Except it costed us less than 40$ and we have four chairs with it.

Basically we she spent three weeks cleaning up and it’s still not quite finished (I need to clean windows one two more times), but at least it’s sanitary. We she cleaned up so well the kitchen that our entire family would be proud of us her. But the point is, now we are settled. We have everything we need and we will soon have everything we want. The flat is nice (and clean) and I like the surrounding. I’m ready for Korean life !

 

PS: yeah, somehow I seem to have lower standard than my entire family when it comes to cleanliness. I guess my parents already spent the quota of clean awareness of my generation before I was born …

14 thoughts on “Moving

  1. Luna

    Oh, you see the rooms with this angle…
    The ceiling looks a little higher than this when I see them. I mean…for someone with my heights. ;)

    We are still looking for 5.1ch speaker set, small dish washer, a living room table and sofa.
    Please notice us if someone want to abandon them~~~thank you in advance ;)

  2. Sidonie

    Je dois avouer que les photos donnent beaucoup mieux que la webcam. Le chien a une meilleure tête comme ça que pixelisée ;-) Je la montrerai aux Schtroumpfs quand ils rentreront.

    Ouais, ben au moins, toi t’as pas marié qqn qui est au moins dix levels en dessus question “cleanliness”… Maintenant (et depuis longtemps), je comprends quelle devait être ta vie quand on habitait encore ensemble :-D

    Sinon, c’est très coquet chez vous. C’est où qu’on dort quand on vient ? J’espère que d’ici là, on ne devra pas aller faire les cassons pour trouver un matelas. On prendra nos sacs de couchage pour si jamais.

    1. KiKi Post author

      On a récupéré un “matelas léger” de chez mes beau-parents qui est étonnament confortable et qui fait office de “canapé” pour le moment. Mais d’ici à ce que vous veniez, cela aura sûrement changé (d’autant que le matelas en question n’est pas infiniment grand)…

  3. Manon

    Je suis d’accord avec Sidonie, c’est joli et ça a l’air très propre ; ). Et vous avez déjà plein de trucs à nouveau. Sidonie, si j’ai bien compris ton cher et tendre te mène la vie dure au niveau propreté, à toi??!!
    Sinon bravo d’avoir si vite trouvé, nettoyé et arrangé votre nouveau nid!
    Biz

    1. KiKi Post author

      On a récupéré beaucoup de choses en fait. La cuisine est officiellement non-agencée, mais on a eu la chance de récupérer la cuisinière, le frigo, l’indispensable rice-cooker et l’air conditionné du salon. Ainsi qu’une énorme armoire de rangement (derrière le chien). Sans compter la télé gratos…

      A vrai dire à l’exception de l’énorme armoire tous nos meubles sont vides, pourtant il me manque rien (à part un Samsung Galaxy S3 évidemment) :P

  4. Soyoung

    C’est drôle de voir toutes ces corrections… Oui, il faut être précis, n’est-ce pas Luna ? :-D
    En tout cas c’est très joli votre appartement. Félicitations et bonne continuation !

  5. Lila

    Didn’t see these pics yet. Seems really pretty, well done you guys !
    J’espère qu’on pourra venir vous voir avant la fin de cette année… mais c’est pas gagné malheureusement.
    On pense à vous les loulous ! we miss uuuuuu !!
    (en plus, maintenant j’ai plus personne pour râler sur la Suisse avec moi …snifffff)

    Portez-vous bien :D
    Dasi mannayo !
    Po&Li

    1. KiKi Post author

      Vous êtes les bienvenus quand vous voulez :)

      On pourra toujours râler sur la Corée ensemble :P

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