Small Victories

When you’re living in a city of 10.4 million people, in a country where you don’t speak the language, small victories like getting to school on your own, navigating the subway system, and reading a word (or part of a word) in Hangul feel like huge triumphs. Also when you’re me, and you’re domestically challenged and lacking practical skills, simple tasks like doing laundry and making scrambled eggs are cause for celebration.

Tonight I successfully used my stove for the first time to make dinner. Yes, I’ve been here for 2 days short of a month and I still haven’t had the courage to use the stove. I’ve been eating out for the most part or eating college-kid meals like cereal and ramen. But I quickly realized that I’m not going to save any money if I’m eating out all the time. (Such wisdom I’ve acquired here!)

I had reason to fear the gas stove. When I lived in Uptown after college, I once didn’t turn the gas off all the way on our stove and left the building for the day. That afternoon I got a call from my roommate telling me that our neighbors called the landlord about the gas smell, and she came home to a note from the fire department saying they broke in to shut the gas off. I could have burned down the entire building, or if I had stayed home to take a nap like I had considered, died of asphyxiation. I personally think gas stoves should be outlawed, but apparently not everyone is as clueless as I am.

The stove in my apartment here has a gas pipe on the wall that you have to turn on, and I was scared that if I played around with it, I would blow up my apartment or something. I know it’s ridiculous, but I don’t have a good track record in the kitchen.

So I made eggs and beef patties for dinner tonight, and I’m feeling pretty proud of myself. Sad I know.