A Grand Tour of La Palais de Ulsan

Greetings,

Throughout history every great leader has had a palace deserving of their talents. Emperor Shah Jahan had the Taj Mahol, Louie the 14^th had Versailles, Kubla Khan had Xanadu, and Joanna Groves and Shayne Robinson have their Korean Shangri la. Perhaps the biggest fear we had moving to Korea was the dread we faced over the possibility of living in a 100 square foot apartment.

One previous job offer that we considered came with a 350 square foot apartment for the two of us and that seemed to be a decent offering. But about a week before we actually came here our boss announced that she had traded in our studio apartment for a 3 bedroom palace. It was like a scene in a movie. We wanted to start a slow clap and just start crying wildly. That being said we were still nervous that we would be living in the middle of nowhere or that our place would be falling apart or any of the other common fears people have when they move in to places they have never actually seen (do people do that? Or are we the only ones stupid enough to try?).

Anyway, enough of our babbling, on to the show....

The outside of our building is far too massive to capture in one shot. It ain't much to look at, but it's home. We live on the 4th floor, and that only means one thing....stairs.

Stairs....so many stairs.


They seem to go on forever. Well, actually it's only four floors, but we're fat and out of shape so give us a break (and yes, we were lazy enough to post the same picture twice).



An entrance, shocking isn't it? I bet you never expected in your wildest dreams that Korean houses have entrances too. One thing of note is the door bell. It has this high pitched annoying laugh for a bell. It's like some damn anime cartoon sound. We will probably end up tearing it out of the wall and putting up of those 50 pound door knockers instead.



We were surprised by the size of our kitchen, since it's bigger than most of our friends' places back home. We don't have an oven, and our stove is a two-burner gas range. To remedy the situation we bought a toaster oven and plan to bake cookies...two at a time. We just got the water cooler yesterday, and so gone are the daily trips to the corner store to buy overpriced bottles of the finest French spring water.


Here's another view of our kitchen. As you can see it has been decorated in the style of most Park Avenue penthouses. You might also notice the size of the fridge, which we are told if we water daily and shower with affection, will grow into a full-sized fridge in a matter of months.


The "west bedroom" which we currently use for storage. We are very proud of our Christmas tree, and our membership in the Red Neck Club of Southern Ulsan for displaying it year-round.


Here is our movie theatre that also poses as our living room. In all seriousness, we were pretty stoked to find a 27 inch television, two giant speakers and enough stereo equipment to really pound out the John Tesh when the mood hits.


Another view of our living room. The couch is brand new, and the coffee table reminds us of a Salvador Dali painting. It's a fair sized room, and probably bigger than the entire first apartment we were considering.


This is where the real action takes place. Not only do we have a toilet, but a sink too. Yes, a sink. We also have a bathtub, and although designed for Munchkin Land, Shayne manages to wash half his body at least once a week....just kidding.


We were lucky enough to get a brand new queen-sized bed. When you get over the fact that it's harder than concrete, and covered by a blanket that induces epileptic seisures, it's probably the nicest bed either of us has ever had. You might also notice our second 27 inch television. Yes, we are indeed that pimped out.


Here's the other half of our bedroom, that contains a dresser, some Ikea shelving (God bless Ikea), and the vanity where Jo spends hours asking the enchanted mirror, "just who is the fairest of them all?" Oddly enough, we think it might be gay because it always answers "David Hasselhoff."

Well, that's pretty much it. We can't properly convey just how happy we are with our new place. It's so much better than we expected and bigger than any we have seen for teachers in comparison online. We definitely will have to take our boss out for some kimchi stew and soje to celebrate.

Until next time, cheers.

Shayne and Jo