Learning To Use the Subway / Trip to Happy Quilt

On my to do list for today was to learn how to use the subway system in Pyeongtaek, especially since one stop down from our apartment is the Happy Quilt store!  So while Ted was working this afternoon, a friend and I embarked on the short journey to walk to the subway station and attempt to learn how to get around!  First (and only planned) stop- Happy Quilt!

First, let me start off by sharing the local subway map--

--and in addition to all of these subway trains, there are actual trains coming in and out of the same station as well.  When I asked a Korean friend how to tell a subway from an actual train, she just told me to look at how the seats were set up--subway seats go along the sides, train seats go across in rows like a bus.  Easy enough!

After watching a short informational video on how to load money onto my T-money card (the reusable subway card), I felt fairly confident that we could do it.  I also memorized the name of the station that we needed to get off at, not to mention that it was only one stop, so as long as we got off the first time it stopped, no biggie, right?  

The walk to to subway was good.  Loaded money onto reusable card-check!  Then we started looking for the subway platform that we needed-a little bit more of a challenge since things are in Korean,  but not too bad since we knew the name of the station.  After waiting a few minutes, the subway came--yay!  On we went!

And then off we went on the first stop--only to our amazement that we were not at the right station!  Haha!  The train (as we later found out) that we had managed to get onto was the express train, that only comes once an hour!  Since it is the express one it only stops at larger stations!  Thank goodness that the only stop we missed was the one we needed.  So after some help from a nice older Korean couple, we were back in line for our correct train!

After arriving at our correct station, we followed the walking directions I  had saved on my phone to get to the Happy Quilt store from the subway station.  What a beautiful walk!  We were kind of on the edge of town to get to the store, so there were beautiful fields with produce growing and wildflowers.

After arriving at Happy Quilt, I found several more pieces of fabric to match the ones Ted and I bought last week (yes, I have been here less than two weeks and have already visiting the quilt store twice)! Here are some pictures of the Happy Quilt store.  They have almost all brand name fabrics (Riley Blake, Michael Miller, Robert Kaufman), and have fat quarters, 2 yard packs, and many bolts of wide width quilting fabrics.

Vera Bradley by the yard, anyone?  These are also wide width!

The outside of the Happy Quilt building.

And just a few more pictures of our walk back to the subway station...it was such a beautiful sunny day!

Our ride back to the apartment via the subway went very smoothly!  Grateful to my friend who was willing to brave the unknown subway system with me to fabric shop this afternoon!

Ted and I are headed to Seoul this weekend to stay until Wednesday (he has a course to attend at the base there)...I already have several recommendations for fabric markets to visit while he is in training.  ;)

Love,

Charlotte

Our Korean Apartment!

The Lotte Invens Sky Apartments, Pyeongtaek, South Korea

Welcome to our blog about life in South Korea!  What's a better place to start than our home away from home?  Ted worked very hard before I arrived in Korea to secure us an awesome place to live--the Lotte Invens Sky Apartments!  There are six towers in our complex, and the main building in the front is pictured above, which just happens to be where our apartment is located (16th floor).  The complex also features a three level parking garage under the buildings, as well as parking garage guards and a guard at each front entrance.  There are also several shops, restaurants, and a gym on the retail level.  It is also walking distance from a shopping mall/train and subway station, pictured below.

The shopping mall/train and subway station is named AK Plaza.  In the picture above, it is located on the left side, and is right behind the small round tower.  It also features several restaurants, the most recent one opening just this past Monday which a few of us American's might recognize...the Outback Steakhouse!  This picture is the view from our office and extra bedroom/laundry drying area.  So on with the tour! :)

The photo above is of our office space, with a small corner dedicated to Ted's mountain bike storage.  If you look at the view out of the window, you can barely see a figure that kind of looks like a water slide...this is where the trains come and go into the station.

This is our kitchen, complete with my new Korean slow cooker.  It was quite the sight to see us trying to explain in English just exactly what we were looking for!

The living room!  Our apartment came furnished, as we only shipped 300 pounds of household goods!  All of our furniture and household items are in storage in Georgia, and will be shipped to where we are headed next (we won't know this still for several more months).  But for now we will enjoy our very comfortable Korean couch, chair, and furnishings!

Last featured photo of the inside of our apartment, the master bedroom.  Complete with the quilt I made for Ted! :)  The shades are closed in this photo, but the view from our windows is beautiful (see below).

In between all of the buildings in the complex is the beautiful courtyard.  There are play sets for kids, as well as a rose garden and two beautiful gazebos.

Beautiful breezes through here too!  And roses...

And, just in case you were wondering just exactly where we are in the county, I took a picture of the map/GPS locating us while at the apartment in Pyeongtaek!

That's all for our first post!  More to follow about daily life, fun foods, and places we will visit!

Love,

Ted and Charlotte