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!
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