Fire in Goshiwon!!

One day, the Goshiwon where I was staying caught fire at 11:30 pm and it was a traumatic experience as there was smoke and the fire alarms were ringing crazily. The Goshiwon was in the 5th floor. I couldn't think of anything but to call the owner. I called the owner and as she was staying 30 minutes away from the Goshiwon, she asked me to call the helpline. But before I could call the helpline I could hear fire engines and ambulance. I peeped out through the balcony window and there was a line of fire engines which meant that it was huge fire and that they were informed even before the alarm started ringing in the Goshiwon. Korea is super fast in such things.
On the hand, there was this Korean guy(who was also staying in the Goshiwon) who had woken up hearing the alarm. He goes near the alarm control and tries to switch off the alarm. There's a fire and he is so cool about it???? I got really worried and asked him to leave the place. I don't know whether he was trying to act cool or whether he was sleepy. We went down and the firefighters asked us whether we had inhaled smoke and then took us into the ambulance and checked us. The fire was put off but the 1st floor(ground floor) and the basement still had smoke. Even after that day, the alarm used to ring because of the smoke in the basement. It used to give me shock waves.
Once you go through such a traumatic experience the veins in your body tends to feel prickly.

How did the fire start? A stupid guy staying in another room had thrown the cigarette butt outside through the window and it was the cause of fire(That is what I heard) coz police had come and checked the guy's room for the next two days and the guy had run away and returned after 3 days.
# People who are found smoking in Non smoking zones in Korea are fined. and No Smoking inside buildings!! No its not allowed.

In Busan it was the strong earthquake which traumatized me. We stayed in a dormitory which was on a hill and our room was on the 9th floor. So think how strongly the building would have shook.

I learnt something from these experiences. When such things happen I take my Passport, Laptop, Mobile and get out of the building as soon as possible. If you don't find these things just forget them. Our life is more important. Take the stairways not the elevator.
These are some of the new experiences I had in Korea. I hope I don't have to face such things again. 

Episode 2 # My New Findings

Episode 2

Place: Goshiwon in Seoul

After my friend left the Goshiwon I was bored and that is when I came upon a youtube video on bracelets made using embroidery threads. It fascinated me and immediately I bought 50 colors of embroidery threads from Gmarket(one of the Korean online shopping site). Within three days the threads were in my hand and I began experimenting. The first one that I made was not so good. (everyone takes time to learn).

I saw more videos and got ideas from Macrame tutorials and weaving patterns. 

This is when I realized that I like handmade things with knots. 

After moving into the University Dorm I seldom made these bracelets. 

I have a Korean friend who makes accessories whom I had met in India. I met her in Korea after 4~5 years and she took me to an Exhibition which displayed handmade things from accessories and clothes and what not. (I felt like spending the whole day there. It was a treat to my eyes.) 

Try figuring out what these are made of. 

(These things were highly priced but perfectly made)

One day the Korean friend asked me if I could repair something for her. I will come back with the behind story in the next episode. 

Goshiwon Story

Before moving on to the 2nd episode I would like to share my experience which led to episode 2.

When I shifted from Busan to Seoul I had to stay at a Goshiwon as I was late to apply for the University Dormitory. Goshiwon(고시원)in Korean means small rental rooms which are used by students preparing for  important exams like government exams. They are expensive but are really small as only a small bed, small table and wardrobe fits into the room. They may or may not have attached bathroom and same goes for window too. In simple terms, a normal sized apartment is turned into 20~30 small rooms for people to live.

I was given a room with an attached bathroom the wall of which touches my leg while I lay on the bed. And a sliding window which opens to the hallway.

 The walls of the rooms were so thin that I could here the guy in the next room talk to his girlfriend at 12 midnight. Sleepbreaker!! And there was no day or night in that room. Its up to me to decide between day and night with the switch on the wall.
I used to sleep late. Sometimes 12pm..1am sometimes even 2am too and wake up very late as I couldn't see any sunlight. There was a shared kitchen where I used to cook some Ramyun(noodles) or other food. Nothing was fine for me in this place. (I tried chicken curry for the 1st time in this Goshiwon)

The Goshiwon I had stayed in had old men too staying there. They were people having no family or were unmarried and working to keep themselves busy. I never thought such people existed. But I was blessed to get a friend. She is 17~18 years elder to me and she had decided to do a course at the University. She was staying in the Goshiwon and she used to make really delicious food. Before meeting her I was always wanting to shift to a better place. With her help I was happy even in that small room. She used to take me to night markets and places I have never been to. Once she took her car and drove all the way to the east seaside of Korea. We started at 12 in the midnight and reached at 3am in the morning. But a day came when she had to leave the Goshiwon and go back to her house in the village. There was no one to talk to or spend time. All I wished for was to move into the University Dorm. After she moved out I stayed in the Goshiwon for one month and a half.

This is where my Episode 2 of New Findings begin. Again it was through youtube.