Ulsan is Not a Tourist Mecca

This week I learned that the people of Korea do not think that Ulsan is a tourism hot-spot. When Jeff and I first came to Ulsan, we thought we would only be here about two weeks, so I got the standard 30 day tourist visa, which was just a stamp on my passport when I arrived (Jeff already has a 5 year work visa from his last trip here in the spring). Since the project has been delayed, I had to fly to Seoul this week to extend my visa beyond the 30 days. Thankfully UOP has an office in Seoul and I was met by Lynn, the Executive Assistant, who turned out to be my lifesaver!

My flight was supposed to leave from the Ulsan airport (which literally has two gates and flies only to Seoul and Jeju) at 8:40. We boarded and we on the runway when the pilot discovered a problem with the engine. So we ended up sitting on the runway for an hour while mechanics repaired the plane. Luckily they were ablet o take care of it, and we took off an hour late. Lynn was meeting me at the airport, so I hoped she would see that the flight was delayed. It turns out that the Seoul airport didn't indicate the flight was delayed until five minutes after we were supposed to arrive!

Immediately Lynn rushed me to the bus stop to catch the hour long bus into Seoul's central city. While on the bus she informed me that we had to hope to get to the office before noon, because otherwise the employees would be unwilling to help us until 1:00 (I guess offices are open during the lunch hour, but the employees just won't help you). This wouldn't be a problem, but I had a 2:30 flight back, and the last bus to the airport that would get me there in time left at 1:10. After a tense bus ride, we arrived at the Visa office at 11:58. This is where Lynn became my hero. I just sort of stood there while she and the visa officer argued back and forth, not having a clue what was going on. I was given a form, filed it out, then Lynn and the visa officer argued more in Korean. Finally she grabbed me and we walked away without my visa. I then asked her what that was all about, and here's what she told me:

Lynn told them what I needed and they said come back after lunch. Lynn turned into a little pit bull and said no, give us the form now its before noon. They gave her the form, and when she turned it back in they immediately said no, they would not extend my visa. The reason: there is no tourism in Ulsan and there's no reason for someone to stay there more than 30 days! Ouch, I guess these guys don't work for tourism board! I put ont he form that I was not here for tourism, but because of my husband's employment, but apparently that didn't matter. Anyways, Lynn had them look up Jeff's information to confirm the story and argued my way into a 60-day extension! The visa guy must have felt offended or something because he said he would do it, but we had to pick up the passport after lunch at 1:00. That was good enough for me! So after a quick lunch, I picked up my passport with a new visa stamp, made the bus back to the airport and made my flight home!

As you can tell, it was a rushed day, so I didn't get a chance to take too many pictures, but here are a few:

Some cool building downtown

Olympic Stadium

This is Building 63, called so because it's 63 stories high and one of the tallest in Korea

The Donald is everywhere!

Scary Drivers

Drivers here can be a little crazy (like Chicago cabbie crazy). What's scarier than the way they drive is the way they park. Walking around, you notice cars parked where ever there is space. The sidewalks here are very wide, easily wide enough for a car to drive (and park) on, so you often see cars parked on the sidewalk directly outside a store's door (very convienient I guess!). Many of the sidewalks have small barriers or columns to try and prevent cars from entering, but they don't always seem to help. The other day, I was walking around the city when a car came barreling down the sidewalk right at me. I was ready to jump into a building when the car made a sudden turn, jumped the curb and drove away on the street. I guess that's one way to get around the barriers!


Yesterday Jeff and I found another way to get around the barriers. We left the hotel room for some ice cream next door and came across the following sight:

I guess if they are in your way, you just drive right through them! While the damage to the sidewalk is bad, we couldn't help but wonder what that car must look like!

Cabin Fever

It's been rainy and gloomy here for the past few days, so outside of work Jeff and I really haven't left the hotel much. Well unfortunately I think that has lead to cabin fever for Jeff. On each of the past two days I have gone to the bathroom and have come out to find the following:

A grown man making forts out of hotel furniture has got to be a sign of cabin fever!

Random Cultural Observations from Korea

So Jeff and I keep making random observations about Korean culture, none of which are interesting enough for their own blog, so we decided to compile them all into one random blog.

1. No one wears sunglasses (except for celebrities we see on TV), even when its really, really sunny! My theory was that no one has light eyes, so they aren't as sensitive to the sun, but Jeff disagrees since he has dark eyes and wears them.

2. The fashion here is a little bit stuck in the 80's. A lot of really bright colors, slouchy boots with tiny heels worn over jeans, huge oversized shirts tied at the waist with a belt with leggings underneath, brightly colored knee high socks with non-matching shoes and a short skirt (that may or may not match the shoes and knee socks), and the list could go on and on. Jeff and I have tried to take some pictures, but we have yet to find a stealth way to do it. We came close at McDonalds, but a little girl got in our way! If we are able to get some good pictures, we will definitely post them.

3. No one wears sandals or open-toed shoes of any type. Its interesting because as an American I love my dressy sandals instead of my pumps, but I feel odd wearing them. Thankfully I thought to bring pumps so I have something normal to wear to client dinners!

4. The portion sizes are way smaller here. This isn't surprising at all, and its actually refreshing, except for when it comes to Starbucks. I enjoy stopping by Starbucks once or twice a week (I have found its a great place to work on wedding thank you cards), but I always leave feeling unsatisfied. They don't have a Venti (large in the US) here, so a Grande (medium in the US) is as good as it gets!

5. All school children, even those at public schools, wear uniforms. They are very formal, with skirts, blouses and jackets for the girls and pants, ties and jackets for the boys.

6. There are no bums on the streets here, except the halflings . . . and we're not talking about Hobbits.

7. Instead of planting flowers in pots along the road, they plant cabbage. I'm not kidding you, they use the different colors to make patterns like you would use flowers! It's completely hilarious. Here are some pictures we snapped on the street:

8. Men often carry their wife/girlfriend/sister/mother's purse when shopping and walking around.

9. Kids love to open their car windows and proudly yell "Hi" or "Hello" to Jeff and I when we are walking down the street.

10. They drive on the right side of the street, but for some reason they walk on the left side of the sidewalk. It makes no sense!

A Touch of Milwaukee in Korea

This is just a random quick post. We were watching CNN World the other night and they were talking about someone being shot while buying a new Play Station 3. I was only half paying attention, but I looked up at the screen to see the WISN 12 logo on the bottom (for those of you who aren't from Milwaukee, WISN 12 is the local ABC station). I got really excited and yelled to Jeff that Milwaukee news was on! It was funny to see local Milwaukee news footage all the way over in Korea!

It's Raining

So we get only 3.5 English channels out here. CNN World, BBC News, CNBC and a channel called OCN which shows American movies half the time. This, of course, leads us to channel-surfing random Korean television. This is a story about this channel-surfing.

So watching Korean Music Videos, Mia and I keep seeing this one guy who reminds us of a Korean version of Usher or Justin Timberlake. The video shows him in the rain in some war torn area wearing army fatigues, a black wife beater and dog tags. He has attractive, though strikingly similar, male and female back-up dancers shaking their things where else but in the background. The culminating moment occurs after his Usher-esque dance solo when he bends over and then lifts up his wife-beater to expose his right nipple (put's Janet Jackson to shame, take that JT).

Through all the boy bands and other Korean pop-stars, Mia and I have a hard time recognizing who's who, but once the trademark nipple appears a lightbulb goes off. How can you forget something as strange as male nipple (and only the right one, like ooooooh ... he just showed me his right nipple, if I scream loud enough maybe he'll show me lefty).

So after seeing him again on this live concert, we decided to figure out who he was. It was difficult, since we can't read Korean. A google search of "korean nipple singer" yielded few leads, however "korean popstar" led us to this guy named Rain, who I had read about earlier on AsianFanatics.net. Could this be the nipple-baring teen heartthrob our curiosity/boredom has led us to?

This article, Jan. 27, 2006 by the International Herald Tribune (NYTimes abroad, I believe), said Rain was going to play Madison Square Garden this past October and take American teenagers by storm (apparently Pokemon and Baliwood have proven America is ready for, shall I say, the Asian "Monsoon" ... and Jeff gets the corny joke award). So basically, to finish up this pointless post, the identity match was confirmed when the article spoke about Rain's trademark "chest baring." So you guys have to let us know if this Rain fellow is topping the charts (or did the "monsoon" turn out to be a "light drizzle" ... ok, Mia has just banned Jeff from making jokes).

It is a Wet-Nap?

At all of the American restaurants here, they give you a little wet-nap before the meal. There is a Bennigan's across the street from the hotel here, and Jeff and I have gone to dinner there a few times. The first time we went there, the waitress bought a wet-nap over, and in her best English asked us what we would call it. Jeff and I kind if looked at each other and thought about what to say to her. We both thought, "It's a wet-nap." But at the same time we were like is that just an American thing and if they give this to someone from England or Australia or some other English speaking country will they understand? After talking to each other for a while, we decided to tell her to call it either a wet napkin or a moist towelette. Jeff wrote both of these phrases down for her and she was so happy to have learned something new. We really got a kick out of that. We also got a free drink out of it, because when we left she gave us a card saying thanks for the help and have a drink on me next time you come. A few days later Jeff and I went back to Bennigans and had a different waiter. When he came to bring us the wet-nap, he very proudly said "Here is a wet napkin" and smiled. He left and Jeff and I burst out laughing! We are so proud to have contributed to the collective education of the Bennigan's staff :)

A random side note about Bennigans: all of the waiters and waitresses have super random fake names on their nametags. Our favorites were Sunflower for a guy and Candi and Bambi for a girl :)

Gyeongju

Earlier this week Jeff and I took a trip up to Gyeongju, which is about 45 minutes north of Ulsan. It's a really cool city with a lot of really interesting and unique history. Here's an overview of the place from Wikipedia:

The early history of Gyeongju is closely tied to that of the Silla kingdom, of which it was the capital. Gyeongju first enters non-Korean records as Saro-guk, during the Samhan period in the early Common Era. Korean records, probably based on the dynastic chronicles of Silla, record that Saro-guk was established in 57 BCE, when six small villages in the Gyeongju area united under Bak Hyeokgeose. As the kingdom expanded, it changed its name to Silla. After the unification of the peninsula in the mid-7th century, Gyeongju became the center of Korean political and cultural life. The city was home to the Silla court, and the great majority of the kingdom's elite. Its prosperity became legendary, and was reported as far away as Egypt. The population probably exceeded one million. Many of Gyeongju's most famous sites date from this Unified Silla period, which ended in the late ninth century. Under the subsequent Goryeo (935-1392) and Joseon (1392-1910) dynasties, Gyeongju was no longer of national importance. However, it remained a regional center. The city was made the seat of Yeongnam Province in the 10th century. It had jurisdiction over a wide area, including much of east-central Yeongnam, although this area was greatly reduced in the 13th century. In 1601, the city ceased to be the provincial capital. Over these centuries, the city's relics suffered numerous assaults. In the 13th century, Mongol forces destroyed a nine-story wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa. During the Seven Year War, Japanese forces burned the wooden structures at Bulguska. Not all damage was due to invasions, however. In the early Joseon period, a great deal of damage was done to Buddhist sculptures on Namsan by Neo-Confucian radicals, who hacked arms and heads off of statuary. In the 20th century the city has remained relatively small, no longer ranking among the major cities of Korea. In the early 20th century many archaeological excavations took place, mostly on the many tombs which survived the centuries fairly well. A museum, the forerunner of the present-day Gyeongju National Museum, was set up in 1915 to exhibit the finds. Gyeongju emerged as a railroad junction in the later years of the Japanese Occupation, as the Donghae Nambu Line and Jungang Line were established. Thanks to these improved connections, the town began to emerge as a center of tourism. In the 1970s, Korea saw substantial industrial development, much of it centered in the Yeongnam region of which Gyeongju is a part. The POSCO steel mill in neighboring Pohang commenced operations in 1973, and the chemical manufacturing complex in Ulsan emerged in the same year. These developments helped to support the emergence of Gyeongju's manufacturing sector.

Gyeongju is a major tourist destination for South Koreans, and also for visitors from abroad. A great deal of this is due to the city's status as a center of Silla heritage. In addition, the city government has successfully parlayed its historic status into a basis for other tourism-related developments such as conferences, festivals, and resorts. Many Silla sites are included in Gyeongju National Park. These include a number of profoundly symbolic sites, including the Royal Tomb Complex, the Chemseongdae observatory, the Anapji pond, and the Gyerim forest. In addition, the Gyeongju National Museum hosts many artifacts from the Silla kingdom which have been excavated from sites within the city and surrounding areas, including several royal crowns and other national treasures. Some of Gyeongju's most famous sites relate to the Silla government's patronage of Buddhism. The grotto of Seokguram and the temple of Bulguska were the first Korean sites to be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, in 1995. In addition, the ruins of the old Hwangnyongsa temple, said to have been Korean's largest, are preserved on the slopes of Toham Mountain. Various Silla-era stone carvings of Buddhas and bodhisattvas are found on mountainsides throughout the city, particularly on Namsan. A significant portion of Gyeongju's tourist traffic is due to the city's successful promotion of itself as a site for various festivals, conferences, and competitions. Every year since 1962 a Silla cultural festival has been held in October to celebrate and honour the dynasty's history and culture. It is one of the major festivals of Korea. It features athletic events, folk games, music, dance, literary contests and Buddhist religious ceremonies. Other festivals include the Cherry Blossom Marathon in April, the Korean Traditional Liquor and Cake festival in March, and memorial ceremonies for the founders of the Silla Dynasty and General Kim Yu-sin.

The greatest part about the city is that everything is so close. You can just park along the road and walk to all of these historical sites. We posted a whole bunch of pictures on our yahoo photo site, but I thought I would share a few here. The thing you see most in this area is burial mounds of ancient kings. They look something like this:

Some of them have their own gates and are sort of separated from the rest of the city while others are just in the middle of fields off the side of the road. I guess the deal was that instead of building pyramids like the Egyptians, when a king would die, they would build a wooden chamber around him with all of his royal items, and then they would cover it with layers of rock and dirt and form the mound. The idea was that it was harder to rob the grave because if you went from the side or the bottom the rocks would collapse on you and if you wend from the top you would be seen.

The other really fun place we visited was Bulguska Temple. It was this huge area at the top of a hill and it had the most incredible views of the city! The leaves are still changing here, so the colors just added to the beauty of the place. There were small Buddhist temples spread out throughout the grounds. We obviously weren't allowed to take pictures in them (and there were people in each one to make sure you didn't), but they were very extravagant, with huge golden statutes and murals. There was a Buddhist guy (I have no idea what significance he had, but he was clearly important) in one of the temples who was conducting a prayer ceremony. We got to watch, which was really cool to see the way that another religion prays.

The other cool thing about the area is all of the shopping. There are tons of souvenier
shops, and we definitely picked up some unique things to bring home (like painted scrolls and native masks). The most popular thing you see there is Amethyst. Apparently there are a lot of Amethyst mines in the area, so literally every store carries at least something, and it is really reasonably priced. Of course I had to stop in a jewelry store and pick up a little something :)

Happy Pepero Day!

Today is Pepero Day, a Valentine's day like holiday here in Korea. Jeff and I had been seeing all of these candy displays like this in the stores . . .


. . . so we finally did some investigating and learned that today, November 11th, is Pepero Day. Here's what Wikipedia says about it:

Pepero Day is a unofficial holiday in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day or Sweetest Day. It is named after the Korean snakc Pepero and held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resemble four sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts. According to the story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero" (Pepero means "thin like a stick"). However, it is more likely it was initiated by Lotte, the company which produces Pepero. While in most countries of the world, November 11th is a day of rememberance (since it signaled the end of World War I), in Korea it is a day of romance, gaudy cardboard packaging emblazoned with butchered English love lines, and massive fortunes earned by convenience stores and Wonka-esque entrepreneurs. Many students are truant on this day to celebrate with their friends. In Japan, a similar Pocky (pronounced like hockey) Day was held on November 11 in 1999, which was the 11th year of the Heisei era. The date, 11/11 of the 11th year, resembled 6 sticks of Pocky. According to Korean sources this day was based on the Pepero Day.

Of course we had to try these Pepero sticks, and I must say, they are really good. They are kind of like pretzels, but not as salty, and a little bit more cracker like. Then they are covered different kinds of chocolate and toppings. We really like the milk chocolate and almond ones. Here's a picture of them:

Pictures

We will be posting a few pictures here, but if you would like to see more expanded pictures of our travels, check out our photo page at http://photos.yahoo.com/hoff0439

That's One Smart Room

So coming to Korea, I knew that the country was one of the leaders in the area of technology (Samsung and LG are both based here). What I didn't realize was how that technology would transfer to our hotel room. I am amazed at all of the cool stuff in our room, so I thought I would share some of it with you. When you walk into the room, you put your key into this box that is mounted on the wall.


Instantly the entryway light and a few lights in the room turn on. When you take your key and leave the room, the lights turn off, so electricity isn't wasted. Right next to the box are buttons for the do not disturb and make up the room. So instead of hanging the traditional sign on your doorknob, a light turns on outside your room indicating which button you have pressed. There is also a doorbell (the chimes button) outside each room.

The next cool piece of technology is this control box, which is located on the nightstand.


It is wonderful, because it truly controls everything in the room, including the lights (you can choose which ones to turn on and off), temperature, do not disturb and make up the room buttons, and of course the radio, clock and alarm. Its so nice to have all of that right at your fingertips. The final piece of technology that I think is crazy is the toilet.

As you can see, there are multiple buttons, a set of instructions, and the thing plugs into the wall! I have seen normal bidets before, but this takes hygiene to a whole new level!

Jesus is Korean!

I went exploring on Sunday morning to see if I could check out some cool churches. We learned that Catholicism is one of the top three religions here, so I was thinking it would be cool to see a Korean Catholic Church. After about 15 minutes of walking, I came across a church that looked like it could be Catholic. I wasn't sure because absolutely everything was in Korean, but then I saw a bunch of nuns and figured this had to be the place. I didn't go inside because mass was just getting out, but I took some cool pictures of the outside.





As you can see, this was a beautiful church, but the coolest thing is that Jesus, and all of the characters in the windows, are depicted as Korean. I've always grown up with the Western/Eurpoean image of Jesus, so it was really cool to see a very different Eastern perception. I've had some other cool observations about Korean culture, so more blogs to come soon!

No Rules, Just Right

Well, we are officially in Korea. We've had a lot of questions about the time it took to get here and whatnot, so here is a run down. We left on Monday at noon and flew from Chicago to Tokyo, which took about 14 hours. Then after a three hour layover we took a two and a half hour flight from Tokyo to Seoul, South Korea. We then spent the night at the Hyatt near the airport and caught a bus to the smaller airport in Seoul for a one hour flight to Ulsan(http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcsouthkorea.htm), which is where we are staying. From the time we left Jeff's house in the morning until the time we got to our hotel, it was about 37 hours total.

The hotel here is great. There are a few restaurants and bars and a great fitness facility including a huge gym, pool, and even a golf driving range! I will definitely be spending plenty of time there!

When we arrived yesterday, we saw an Outback Steakhouse across the street from the hotel. We felt obligated to eat there to feel like Americans (well, Americans pretending to be Australians at least). It was fun having a little touch of home right off the bat.

I guess that is all for now!