Roached

I've been living in Koreatown for nearly four years and have gotten used to many of its challenges. Driving and parking. Loud drunk people late at night (and early in the morning). Thrown out furniture. Landmines of dog crap. LAPD and LAFD. The smell of weed. The music of ice cream trucks way past ice cream hours. It's all part of the Koreatown residency.

Unfortunately, the one challenge I have not been able to get used to is cockroaches. I see them ALL THE TIME. On the streets. In my school restrooms. In my classroom. Apparently, my brother found a dead one last week in my car! I can honestly tolerate all of this roach business everywhere I go, but the one place I cannot tolerate it is in my home.

We've been finding them dead and alive in our bathrooms, closets, and living room. But their favorite place to greet us is the kitchen. I don't have enough fingers or toes to count how many cockroaches I have had to take care of in the past year. Turning on our kitchen light is always stressful. Pulling up the shower curtains is always stressful. There is definitely real trauma I have experienced, and pest control does not seem to have a solution.

Our annual lease is coming to an end, so my brother and I have been looking for potential places to move to. With the rent and parking being so bad throughout LA, it's really hard to find some place that will meet all of our needs at an affordable price. We even had our moments of deep discouragement and started to consider just staying another year. But one night after my brother turned on the kitchen light that revealed the biggest live roach I have ever seen, I knew we could stay here no longer.

So, as of today, I am happy to announce that in approximately two months, we will finally end our relationship with Koreatown...and hopefully with cockroaches forevermore. 벌래 shekis!


Thought of the Day: Gomtang
Song of the Day: Green Day-Wake Me Up When September Ends