Monthly Archives: June 2014

Expat Life, Korea

I’m an Outdoorsy Person

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On Thursday I signed up to tour the Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard and Museum.  I really enjoyed getting to see the shipyard and learning more about how Hyundai came to be what it is today.  Unfortunately, this is not the shipyard where Chris works; he is in the offshore yard.  Another unfortunate is that they do not allow any cameras anywhere near the actual shipyard.  They are very secretive about it all.  It is crazy how big everything is there; I wish I could show you.  They did however let us take a few pictures in the traditional Hanok homes that we visited on the shipyard.  This is where the owners of the ships stay before they put them in the water, or before they set sail.  We were only allowed in one area of the houses as they currently had guests.  Chris and I had seen similar homes in Seoul but it was really great to be able to walk  inside of them and take fun pictures like this one: photo 6

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Expat Life, Korea

Teacher’s Pet

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It has been a busy week in Ulsan!

Korean lessons have been going well, but it looks like we have a case of a teacher’s pet in the making!  Chris has taken it upon himself to actually study for our Korean lessons, which makes it very difficult for me to keep up.  I think I can fake the teacher out a few more weeks due to the fact that  I am an excellent Hangul (Korean characters) calligrapher, but it’s only a matter of time until I will also have to start studying.  Hopefully, when the time comes, Chris will let me borrow the study app that he downloaded on his phone.  App you say?  Yes.  I am married to the biggest teacher’s pet I’ve ever known.

In addition to the normal “busy” of going to the grocery store (what feels like everyday), meeting friends for dinner, and going to boot camp, this weekend had a few bonuses.  Friday, our air shipment arrived!  I have to admit that neither Chris nor I was able to remember what specifically we had packed in the air shipment, so it was a great surprise to see the following: massive amounts of clothes (I was really, really happy about that!), one Kate Spade purse (again, really happy about that one), 11 DVD’s (??? maybe I thought I would be bored?), 1 giant transformer (that is uselessly sitting in the kitchen as we have nothing that needs to be plugged in to it — those items are all in our sea shipment), and to top it off, a huge quilt that we put on our bed in the winter… needless to say, this is a great example of how chaotic packing your entire house in one day is.  While I am glad that the quilt made it to Korea, I wish that I had decided to put a pillow (or two) in the box instead.  I currently sleep on a folded up blanket as our apartment complex feels that everyone should sleep with a pillow that rests their head at an approximate 45 degree angle.

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Expat Life, Korea, Travel

20 miles in Seoul

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While Chris denies the truth, my trusty Fitbit tells me that we walked around 20 miles in Seoul this weekend.  I’ve got a sore back, blisters on my feet, and it feels like I am stepping on needles every time I walk — basically I am pretty beat up.  That said, 20 miles left me having visited two Chosun palaces, three museums, two ancient city gates , one portion of the wall protecting the city, Namsan Tower (or Seoul Tower if you aren’t an uppity Seoulite), seeing the Blue House (just like the White House, but blue) and City Hall, as well as many other fun, eclectic neighborhoods.

Gyeongbokgung Palace Dongdaemun Gate Wall SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC

We even stopped by Gangnam (yes, the neighborhood or “gu” made popular by Psy and the catchy but annoying song that you hate to love, “Gangnam Style“). We also had two nights of Mexican food, hummus and a traditional American breakfast.  In short, it was an amazing weekend, but I need to go back because I definitely didn’t see everything.  I know this is a long shot… but if anyone has plans of traveling to Seoul, get in contact with me.  I can definitely give you a few pointers, such as areas of town to stay in, must-see sights, (Mexican) restaurants etc.

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