Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

I’d have to say that my first thoughts after walking around for a few hours today is that I’m a bit overwhelmed. We didn’t do a whole lot today mostly because we can’t really figure out what to do. In some ways this is exactly what I had expected and in other ways the complete opposite.

The town we’re staying in is Ulsan but we’re in a district called Nammok which is slightly removed from Ulsan proper. It’s a little place surrounded by trees – you can see it on the map. The school, ELC, where I’ll be teaching is more or less what I expected. It’s an open and bright space with a dozen or so classrooms. Jacob and I visited twice today and were a big hit with the students. We felt like animals in a zoo as we sat in the fishbowl office and the children stopped, stared and waved at us.

As for the rest of the city, it’s not as busy as I had expected. There aren’t the hoards of people that I was anticipating and dreading. There’s lots of lights and bright colours and shops and stands everywhere. You really have to keep your eyes peeled to find anything because everything is just a small store and it isn’t necessarily on the ground level.

We’re having a bit of trouble finding something to eat. Since neither of us are feeling well, we’re not being that adventurous in our food choices. We ate at the Tous Les Jours bakery twice today which means we really haven’t eaten anything. I can’t wait to eat the KD I packed tomorrow.

Probably the biggest difference is the smell. It comes and goes in waves but its a cross between salty air and rotting vegetables. It isn’t exactly the greatest smell I’ve ever experienced, I think I’ve just been used to living in a place that really doesn’t have a smell at all. I’m already missing the clear skies and fresh air.

We did a small tour around our apartment complex this morning. All the apartment buildings are grouped together at one end of the city. The apartments are bordered by wooded hills with hiking trails through them. We walked up part of one today and got a good view of Ulsan and the part of the Hyundai port. The hiking trails were really nice, it’s refreshing to have some nature around. There’s also a gym (indoor and outdoor) near the apartments.