Minority Report and Home Sweet Home

     When we last left off, I was waiting to board my international flight from LAX to Incheon International Airport outside of Seoul, South Korea. This flight left on time (for once) at 12:20am with me aboard clearly as a minority. Fast forward 12 ½ hours and I step foot for the first time on the Asian continent waiting 2 ½ hours until my flight from Seoul to my new home, Busan. The thought of me being a minority when I was 1 of 15 non-Asians out of 350 is nothing compared to being the only non-Asian on the entire flight into Busan. Once I finally arrived – 4 days, 5 airplanes, 4 airports, 2 continents, and 1 car ride later – I stepped foot into my apartment, home for the next year.

     By all Western standards, it is a very small place...but it suits the minimalist in me. It should help me to learn the art of dispossession. From my front door, you enter a small room used to remove your shoes out of respect in typical Korean fashion before entering another's home.

     Don't be a heathen!

     My living/sleeping quarters are separated from the entry room by sliding frosted glass doors decorated with bamboo and mountains.  The room comes equipped with numerous shelves for storage, a full-sized bed, and a wardrobe closet.

     From there, the kitchen is located behind another set of sliding glass doors and has a refrigerator/freezer, a dual burner gas stove, a sink, and a washing machine (which again, is extremely small by Western standards).

     The bathroom is the final room to this Asian abode. Entire bathrooms in Korea are used as shower stalls. The waterline runs in at my bathroom sink which not only has a faucet but also a shower head. Strange, I know...but Koreans probably think you're weird for having your shower segregated and in a stall.

     You've probably noticed my phenomenal wallpaper in the background of my photos and that's completely accurate, it is indeed phenomenal.