Monday, August 31, 2009

Laundry

My apartment this year has a front-loading washing machine.  It took me quite a while to figure out how to even open it, since I can't read the directions or controls well enough. After trying to pull it open, rotate it before pulling, and other release methods, I decided to get clever and look at the controls. I immediately saw one button not associated with any other buttons, lights, or pictures, and sure enough, that was it. I had three weeks of dirty laundry from here and in LA ready to go, and few clean clothes left, so laundry crisis averted now that I can use the thing. A couple days ago I pulled out the ol' Korean-English dictionary and made an attempt at decipering all the settings and such on the panel. It was quite a lot of work, and involved some deduction, but I think I have a reasonable handle on it.

I'm not sure yet if I'm a fan.

Pros:

It's smaller, so now I don't feel wasteful washing only a small load of clothes, and it also allows me to sort colors now that I can fill the whole thing with darks or brights.

I can watch the laundry spin round and round... Ooooooh...

It has a spin dry cycle, so my clothes aren't soaking wet when I pull them out. Less dry time=good.

There are lots of very specific cycle settings, like towels, linens, curtains, lingerie, etc.

Cons:

It takes forever to wash a load. I think the shortest amount of time is nearly an hour and a half.

I have to buy a special detergent and it's around 50% more expensive than the regular kind, if I recall correctly what I paid last year. I do have to use slightly less, but I think in the end it's still pricier.

I'm not quite sure into which basin in a drawer with three choices I'm supposed to put the detergent. I'm worried.

It's really loud and vibratey. I can't really hear it if I slide the glass door shut, but I keep the window open out on the balcony (where the washer is), so I imagine the neighbors can hear it loud and clear. When it's doing its spin dry at the end, it really seems like it's going to either explode or burst into flight.

The first load I did was brights, and despite having put them in a washing machine before with no problem, somehow my retardly expensive underwear from Vietnam got the color sucked out of them and distributed as a dingy greyish or bright pink into anything more porous than cotton that was in the load. So once again, foreign clothing is responsible for ruining a bunch of my clothes. What a hassle.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Bloggy McBlog Blog

Hey, guess what? The Korea Tourism Board is having a blogging contest for foreign teachers who blog about their experiences in Korea. That seems right up my alley. The contest ends August 31, so I'm lucky to have heard about it in time. I just entered my blog at prkorea.org, and I'm hoping to place in at least the top 100. That way I'll at least get an MP3 player, which would be nice, since I have only an original iPod--kind of bulky.

Here's what Footprints Recruiting Agency has posted about the contest:

Win a $5000-$10,000 Vacation in Korea !!

Recruiting 100 International Top Bloggers of "Korean Culture & Travel"

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) is recruiting 100 international bloggers of Korea culture & travel from June 15 to August 31 2009, in collaboration with the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK). The event, titled ‘Blog Korea! Visit Korea!' is aimed at strengthening the online promotion of Korean tourism.

Blogs written in a variety of foreign languages (English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, and Russian) can be registered in this event. Those who would like to become one of Korea Tourism's top bloggers can apply for the event after posting content about Korean culture and travel on their blog. The KTO will recruit 100 bloggers in early September after examining the extent to which bloggers are interested in Korea, the contents of each blog, and the number of "hits" on each blog.

The 100 top bloggers of Korean culture & travel will be awarded prizes. The top 5 bloggers will receive the latest LG netbook worth $500, 10 runners-up will receive a digital camera, and the remaining 80 bloggers a MP3 player. Moreover, the top 30 most active bloggers will be invited to a special camp in Korea in October 2009.

In May 2010, the KTO will select the three bloggers who have shown the best performance over the last 8 months (between September 2009 and April 2010). The best bloggers will win a Korea vacation package (worth between $5,000 and $10,000). The winners can be accompanied on their trip by a family member or friend.
The KTO hopes that the event will enhance interest in Korean culture & travel among bloggers all over the world. The KTO will recruit 500 top bloggers within three years, and aims to promote Korean tourism aggressively by expanding its exchanges with bloggers.

End Communication.

So in case anyone is wondering where all the posts I wrote from my summer in the US went, I've exported them to another blog at www.aliaoutofkorea.blogspot.com, for purposes of keeping my blog focused on Korea and, I hope, preventing me from disqualification. Thanks for reading, everyone.