Quick, lock the doors! - Part 1

Greetings

Since moving here we've probably had about five or six people express interest in coming out to visit us. But as the months rolled on, the interest faded (maybe it was the lack of excitement in our blogs, or maybe our friends just suck) and our poor guest room sat empty month after month.

So when my Dad first said that he was going to come and spend some time with us in Korea we didn't hold our breath. But imagine our shock, when not only did he and his partner, Dawn, buy plane tickets, but they actually showed up in Ulsan last week. They were on their way to China (so he could meet her parents - gulp) but managed to fit a week with us into their schedule.

As soon as we picked them up from the train station we headed for a little taste of Koreana: The divinity known as Bulgogi.


You can't see much from this picture, but bulgogi is marinated beef that is cooked with vegetables and served with kimchi and countless other strange red-coloured side dishes. I should note that we really put these two through the wringer while they were here. We somehow talked them into trying the following Korean foods:

• Silk worm pupae
• Fish cakes stuffed with red beans
• Spicy rice cakes covered in seaweed
• Potato and mustard pizza
• Rice balls stuffed with god only knows what, by god only knows who

They were definitely good sports and got the most out of their Korean experience as possible. In fact, Dad only retreated to McDonalds once during the whole trip. He said he only went there to see how it compared to back home, but I'm not sure if I believe him.



Here's a photo of Jo, Dad, and Dawn standing in front of a statue that's besides our work. It seems that the man was the first principal of the school and is remembered by a giant fear-imposing statue. Oddly enough, the school just opened a few years ago.

Alright, maybe I made that up. The statue is actually of a war hero who helped push out the Japanese during one of the hundreds of times they invaded.

Dad was pretty interested to see where we worked but unfortunately the trip didn't end well.


Within minutes dad was back to where he spent the majority of his time at school: the corner.

We took Dad and Dawn to that fish market we blogged about a few weeks ago, and not too much had changed since we last visited. However, there was one new addition to the market.

The return of what the foreigners in Korea so cleverly refer to as "sea pe@is#s" (this is a PG rated blog).

If you zoom in on the picture you can see why they earned that great name. Oddly enough, if you pick them up they actually shoot out liquid. I could probably make a lot of good jokes at this point, but I won't (see Mom, you did raise a gentleman).

Being so close to the ocean, the four of us spent a lot of time exploring Ulsan's coastline during their visit. Here's a nice shot on the cliffs by the spot where we shot that typhoon blog in the summer.



Thankfully things were a little calmer when we went back this time.

Hey how did this shot of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt sneak into the blog?

Although we've been here for over six months, Dad and Dawn managed to do something on their first day that we've never been able to do. They woke up early enough to see the sunrise.


It's almost enough to make a man wake up early every day to enjoy the beautiful view. Almost, but not quite. I think I'll keep with my policy of never waking up before noon.




Here's a shot of Dawn in front of a small temple by our place. The signs in the background advertise a Richard Gere seminar that's coming up.

This next shot's of Dad at the same temple standing beside what appears to be a collection of Buddhist action figures.

The whole thing just seems strange to me. I was half expecting to see a Darth Vader figurine tucked in there somewhere.

Having some people to show around forced us to get off our lazy butts, stop watching Star Trek, and go out and try some new things. And try new things we did.

We managed to stumble across a board game room. Board game rooms are a geek's dream come true: A giant room with dozens of tables and hundreds of games to choose from. All for the low price of two dollars per hour.



It was difficult to pick between Monkeys in a Barrel, Monopoly, or Uno. As you can see we settled on playing some Uno, and I'm saddened to report that I was the only one who didn't win. Damn Uno, it's a stupid game anyway.

If you're wondering why I' m holding a giant plastic mallet, it's because that's what you hit the loser with each round. I have no idea why that is, or who thought of it, but what a great rule!!!

We need to use more plastic hammers back home. It could probably solve a lot of our problems.

Here's Dad enjoying his win:


This post is already too long so I' m going to have to split it into two sections. The next post will cover the trip we took to Gyeoung-ju (which is one of the cultural capitals of Korea) and our trip to a norae bang.

Sooooooooooooo?

Will Dad and Dawn ever speak to us after we talked them into eating silk worms?
Will I ever win at Uno?
Will Dad and Dawn come to love our little Ulsan, or will the 200-plus smoke-spewing factories scare them off?

Tune in later this week for the answer to all of these questions and the shocking conclusion to our tale.

Cheers

Shayne