Swoosh. Gurgle. Pause. Splash. Spin. Pause. Whoosh. Whir. That’s the sounds I hear from the laundry machine as I write this post. This is my third time doing laundry in UB. By now, I’ve become somewhat accustomed to how the machine works. It was one of the first appliances I looked at when I first arrived at the apartment. Probably because it’s in the room closest to the front door–the washroom. It was immediately clear that the controls were not in English. The only English on the machine was “Samsung”.
Ankhaa, one of the two people who had greeted me and had taken me to my new apartment, recognized the language was Korean. She just so happened to be fluent in Korean. What a happy coincidence. Upon explaining that I wanted a delicate cycle to wash my clothing, Ankhaa read over the options and pointed out the one that could work for me. “This one is ‘baby bubble’”, she said with a giggle. Those words were giggle-worthy. I also laughed. Koreans have the cutest naming conventions, even for washing cycles. How fun! In any case, I knew Ankhaa’s advice would come in handy when I ran out of things to wear.
No more than 10 days later it was apparent that I needed to address the overflowing laundry hamper. I’d had a good run, only so many clothes could fit in my suitcases (amidst all the other items to manage 3 months worth of living in an extremely cold climate). This time I did not have Ankhaa with me and I’d already forgotten her lessons. I thought about temporarily learning Korean. Then I remembered something, which had made a huge difference when Andrew and I travelled to Japan last year. I knew in that moment that my clothes would be okay.
My hero that came to my rescue was Google translate. Specifically, the App on my phone. In chatting with a colleague about Japan (where in fact she had been to a year or two before), she could not recommend the App enough. She described the benefits of it in detail, including that it translates text in pictures and in live action shots. She was so passionate about it that we took her sage advice and downloaded it before we left. Google translate was hands-down the best decision we made regarding our Japan trip. While we hopped between cities, we used the App to communicate with non-English speaking restaurant staff, to help us navigate the city and the countryside, and to wash our laundry. It is a worthwhile App for travelling, especially when the place you’re going does not have English as an official language. (I also insist that a sim card with a data plan is necessary, so the App can be used when you’re out and about). It will positively change the way you travel.
Back to laundry’ing, Google translate assisted me in figuring out the best wash cycle combination for my clothes. One wrong choice and I could have ended up with no wearable clothing and a not-so-fun shopping trip. Determined to keep my wardrobe intact, I carefully looked at every Korean word (and letter!) twice. An unbelievable amount of choices were before me—to the level of wetness, the temperature of the water, to adding extra bubble. I discovered that, with the help of the trusty App, the machine was a 2-in-1, a washer and dryer. Wow. An efficient use of space, that’s for sure.
The first time I ran the washer it took more than 10 minutes for me to choose a cycle. When I finally pressed ‘start’, the timer showed 1 hour and 30 minutes. This worried me. I thought, ‘how could baby bubble be three times as long as my usual delicate cycle of 37 minutes’. From then on, I monitored the machine like a small child, checking on it every so often and seeing how it was doing. Long story short, I let the cycle run its full course. The final result was clean clothes that maintained their pre-wash size. The apartment also, thankfully, had a laundry rack. It was a laundry success. That was 3 weeks ago. Today I took only 5 minutes to start the wash. Another success! (I’ll take ‘em where I can get ‘em).
The best part of laundering is when the washing machine plays a bit-tune song at the end of the cycle. It lasted about 20 seconds, and it was upbeat and happy. The definition of cute.
Doing my laundry here has taught me that even chores are an adventure in Mongolia. Also, the manufacturers of North American laundry machines should really learn a thing or two from Korean laundry machines. 2-in-1s would be great in small spaces and who in the world doesn’t want to hear cheery bit-tune melodies when the laundry is done? Result: Mongolia (or Korea) 1. Canada 0.