It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

Last Sunday was a beautiful sunny (if chilly) day, so Shayne and I thought we'd finally get off our butts and take some pictures of our neighbourhood. Grab a seat and get some popcorn, because this whirlwind tour's gonna change your life. ...But if it doesn't do that, it might at least keep you remotely interested for about 5 minutes of your day.


We begin our tour at our front door, looking up our driveway to the street (our's is the pink building on the left). Note the scooters on the right...one of the more popular ways of getting around Ulsan's narrow streets.

Now, I think it would get pretty boring showing you our neighbourhood frame-by-frame, so instead I'm going to show you what you would typically see walking around...

A typical house, with a typical Hyundai car (very typical actually...they barely drive anything else here in Ulsan).


A typical pile of melamine take-out dishes waiting to be picked up again (we thought this was a good alternative to styrofoam, although I doubt it would work in Canada.). You see these little piles everywhere.


A typical street (note the narrowness), with a lady wearing a typical face mask. The face masks deserve their own post one day.


A typical corner store. There's one on every corner...no, really. (Shayne's note - If only they sold slurpees....sweet sweet slurpees)


A typical fortune teller's shop, complete with welcoming swastikas. If you want to have your fortune told Korea's the place to be. There's probably five or six of these places in our small neighborhood alone.


A typical bus.

Okay...this is starting to get a little ridiculous. Anyways, on our walk-about we came across some other, maybe not so typical things too.


Like these little fellas. Yes, they were as soft and fluffy as they look. Shayne refused to pet them, as he fears that all unknown dogs are rabid. I'm willing to take my chances though. (Shayne's note - Can you blame me? Look at those things; they're one growl away from starring in the sequel to CUJO)


And here's another sight you see every once in a while: boys playing video games outside of a convenience store. They have plenty of arcades around town, but these mini-numbers seem to be popular too. Not quite sure what the other kid's doing. I should note that the "quarter" machines are only ten cents over here. It really is one of the many financial perks of living in Korea.


Up by the temple (see last July's blog entries), there's a well that many, many locals use for drinking water. Apparently it's clean (unlike tap water), and some think it has medicinal qualities. There's always a few cars parked here with their owners filling up water tanks.

On our walk, we also took the opportunity to go to parts hitherto unexplored. Namely, the science college up the hill from our neighbourhood.

(The street view.)

From appearances, you might think this was a prestigious university, but most people we've talked to consider this college second-rate. I think it looks better than most Canadian institutions, though.


Here's another shot of the "first classroom building". Looks like a courthouse or a legislature.


I've included this picture at the request of Shayne. Apparently it looks just like something at UBC-Okanagan.


One of the benefits of hiking all the way up to the college is the view from the top. Here's Dong-Gu, Ulsan in all of its glory. You can just make out the shipyard in the distance. Note the apartment buildings...there are many.



I thought it would be fitting to throw in a shot of our place at the end...just to draw the whole theme of the walking tour to a close. Our place is the fourth one up at the end. For all those who will never make it out for a visit to see all this first-hand, there you have it.

Until we meet again,
Jo