Journey mercies

I've just come to realise why I try to avoid cleaning most of the time. I'm a perfectionist, and when I get into the thick of cleaning, I need to do EVERYTHING.

Kicheol and family have gone back to Korea for the summer, and the flat has blessedly been cleaner than it ever has been. Gone are the incessant array of wet dishes sitting beside the sink. No more toys and children books lying on the floor and couch. The odd bits of clothes on the heater, clothes basket, carelessly thrown shoes, all KEPT.

I never knew what a headache the mess caused until they were all gone.

Of course, funny bit is, I'm not the neatest person around. My room is constantly a mess, and I'm oblivious to it most of the time. But when it comes to the living room and kitchen, my tolerance level dips tremendously. Must be because my mom keeps everything neat and tidy so inadvertently, I need my lounge and kitchen to be clean as well.

This is the first weekend without the family, and I've been on an unusual mission in cleaning up and making the flat how I want it to be. There are a few temporary boarders during the period the Korean family is away, and as I was stomping across the house cleaning up, I suddenly appeared in the lounge and proceeded to clean the table to which one of the boarders said meekly, "The table looks fine to me?"

At which I unintentionally gave a hard gaze that I get when I'm hell-bent on finishing a task, "No. It is not actually."

In many ways, I'm glad all the temporary boarders appear to be rather gentle people (all Koreans), and that I'm appear to have an obsessive-compulsive disorder. I rather have them be wary of annoying me by messing the house up just because they are temporary boarders.

I almost pity the family when they come back, because by that time, I probably will be so happy to have had things my way for 2 months that I'll persuade the gentle Koreans to do things my way.