Hey there everyone. We welcome you to our new blog about our goings-on in Ulsan, South Korea.
The preparation to come teach English in Korea was long and sometimes tedious. However after being here only 3 days, we both know it was well worth it!
After deciding on a school offer in a mid-sized coastal city we went to work getting passports, work visas and putting together a contract package for our new boss Mrs. An.
We chose Ulsan because of its relatively small population of 1.4million (and hence is relatively low polution levels), its location on the eastern coast (we need the ocean close by), its temperate climate (summers high of 30C, winters low of -3C), and because it is far from North Korea (Hey, you can never be too careful. Why not cover all your bases?). Our apartment is 3 bedrooms, 5 min walk to the school, 10 min walk to the beach and has all the necessities. It's a 20 min cab ride to downtown which is always bustling and interesting, and it only costs $14.
To get here we began our trip at 5am on Wednesday, June 26th at Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport. We took a 5 1/2 hour flight to San Francisco and had a 6 hour stop over. It was only supposed to be 4 hours but the Korean Air flight that we were taking to Seoul was delayed by 2hrs. We debated trying to walk around San Fran, but we had too much luggage, very little American money, no idea how far the airport was from downtown, and realized that there was too much room for disaster.
We had some breakfast/lunch, went through security and began the best flight we have ever experienced on Korean Air 024 in a Boeing 777. A 12 hour flight in total, we didn't even get to do/see everything that was offered to us on this awesome flight. Once we were settled into our seats we were given packages with a toothbrush, toothpaste, sleeping mask, thick green socks, a pillow and blanket. Our chairs had a built in tv remote/video game controller/wireless mouse and there were large screens on every chair. There were movies, games, tv shows, albums and an 'online' duty free shopping option right at your seat. The movies, tv shows and music were both in Korean and English. The games had a multi player option so that you could play with other people in the plane. You just clicked their seat number. Jake and I played some Tetris, and Yhatzee together and watched Children of Men (a rather somber movie) and some interesting documentaries, one on panda bears and one on martial arts (I bet you can't guess who watched which one?). The person next to us bought some duty free stuff on her computer/tv screen and the flight attendants came over within 5 mins with with a shopping bag and her purchase. It was very futuristic. Also, there was free alcohol. Unfortunately we were too out of wack and tired to get too many drinks.
Our in-plane meal was called Bibimbap and it was very tasty. It came with instructions too. We also got seaweed soup, a dish of pickles (?), and for breakfast we got shrimp spaghetti with peas (!?).
Once we landed in Seoul/Incheon we needed to take a 45 min shuttle to the "domestic flights only" airport in Gimpo to catch a flight to Ulsan. But because of the previous 2 hour delay we missed the last shu
ttle and flight from Gimpo. So we put on our most confused and upset faces and approached the Korean Air customer service desk. We spent at least 20 minutes there as the agent set us up with a free stay at the hotel and sent us on a free shuttle ride to the Seoul Hyatt Regency Hotel. They put us up for the night, gave us a free meal at the hotel restaurant, and prepared a wake-up call for us at 4:30 am. At this point we were so jet-lagged and confused with time changes and the like it didn't really matter that we were only going to get3 1/2 hours of sleep. The hotel was unbelievable and included lots of cool things such as: to turn on the lights in your room you placed your room key in a slot - therefore you cannot leave your room and leave the lights on! Also, after taking a shower, and the mirror was all fogged up, there was a prefect square in the middle that was automatically de-fogged- even when we blew hot breath on it it would not fog up! Genius. Simply genius.
Our in-plane meal was called Bibimbap and it was very tasty. It came with instructions too. We also got seaweed soup, a dish of pickles (?), and for breakfast we got shrimp spaghetti with peas (!?).
Once we landed in Seoul/Incheon we needed to take a 45 min shuttle to the "domestic flights only" airport in Gimpo to catch a flight to Ulsan. But because of the previous 2 hour delay we missed the last shu
ttle and flight from Gimpo. So we put on our most confused and upset faces and approached the Korean Air customer service desk. We spent at least 20 minutes there as the agent set us up with a free stay at the hotel and sent us on a free shuttle ride to the Seoul Hyatt Regency Hotel. They put us up for the night, gave us a free meal at the hotel restaurant, and prepared a wake-up call for us at 4:30 am. At this point we were so jet-lagged and confused with time changes and the like it didn't really matter that we were only going to get3 1/2 hours of sleep. The hotel was unbelievable and included lots of cool things such as: to turn on the lights in your room you placed your room key in a slot - therefore you cannot leave your room and leave the lights on! Also, after taking a shower, and the mirror was all fogged up, there was a prefect square in the middle that was automatically de-fogged- even when we blew hot breath on it it would not fog up! Genius. Simply genius.The next morning we
caught the shuttle to the Gimpo airport and everything went off without a hitch. The plane ride was interesting because it was a 1 hour domestic flight at 7am, and we were the only two people that weren't in business suits, and there were only 3 girls on the plane, minus the stewardesses.
Our boss, Mrs. An and the couple we are replacing, Shayne and Joanna, were there to greet us at the airport and we drove to our new neighbourhood!
caught the shuttle to the Gimpo airport and everything went off without a hitch. The plane ride was interesting because it was a 1 hour domestic flight at 7am, and we were the only two people that weren't in business suits, and there were only 3 girls on the plane, minus the stewardesses.A long flight, long stopovers, little food and little sleep finally brought us to our destination and our new home.
----Colleener
