One month and counting...

We have already been here for one month. Fortunately things are starting to feel more settled. We finally got our lease signed, which means we will be getting an additional 1900 a month to pay for housing.

We also got the car completely registered...which probably took, no exaggeration here...over 8 hours of leg work. It was a ridiculous process. First we had to go to Pyeongtaek City Hall. Fortunately our friend Trent took up, because we never would have found it on our own. It is about 5 miles from our apartment and all the signs are in Korean. There are a few scattered English signs, but they suddenly stop about a mile before you actually reach the place.

Once we were there we got some wooden plates, seriously wooden- like from a tree wood! Then we went to the base got on a bus, rode it about an hour to Yongsan Army Garrison, wandered around there for several hours till we found the car place. We got the car back, with the help of a guy who was turning in his car, but still couldn't get it registered on our base. We went back to the Pass and Registration Office and waited for an hour for some guy to tell us to go back to Pyeongtaek City Hall and get permanent plates.

So we jumped in the car, confident we could find the right building again, boy were we wrong. We drove around for about an hour. Finally I pulled up to this little booth with a woman in it and asked her where city hall was. She very nicely stuck her head out of the booth and blabbered in Korean for about 2 minutes. Joe and I sat in stunned silence. Finally Joe said, Thank you, that really clears things up for us. We drove away...scared.

Just when we were about to abandon all hope, I found it! We went inside where a woman was a total bitch to us. Finally we got the metal plates, but the holes were in the wrong spots to fit on our car. A little old man drilled holes in them while I sat in the car and had a little melt down. Why are these people so mean? By the time he was done drilling holes in the plates and attaching them to our car, Joe realized I was melting down, and took over driving (he is so wonderful). He got us back home where we ate lunch.

But we still weren't done.

Back to the base Pass & Registration Office. After waiting in their crowded waiting room for another hour, and watching countless of other people who had gotten there after us get waited on, we were finally called. The guy gave us the sticker to put on the car and we were done!

Joe was shocked that we didn't have to walk over the bed of hot coals barefoot while doing the hula hoop and singing the National Anthem in the native tongue of Papua New Guinea.

It is ridiculous! But thank god we are done!