Pleasant weekend in Ulsan

Nothing overly exciting has been happening other than planning VACATIONS which always gets me super excited. I have a pretty magical time coming up. This weekend, I am going to Jeju Island for the long weekend, which will be amazing. Initially planning to go alone, I will actually be joined by my friend Tina for a part of the trip. Lovely!

Next up, there is my school's Sports Day next week. Apparently having one in October was an anomaly and normally they are in May. Because our field has been under construction, it was pushed to June. Anyways, I am not only going to be a spectator this time, I am going to race! The finale of the day is a big relay race between the white and blue teams. Each grade selects one or two top racers of each gender. The race begins with adorable little grade 1's, and last time culminated with grade 6's. Apparently this time there will also be a teacher race of which I was asked to join. That'll teach me for talking about my rugby days - big things are expected of me! I can't wait. I also imagine I will be the only adult sweating and beet red while my Korean colleagues will be cool as cucumbers under massively brimmed hats.

Many more awesome vacations to come, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for my readers.

Spent the weekend in Ulsan planning said awesome vacations. Nice and relaxing. We went to Old Downtown and had AMAZING burgers. Not amazing-for-Korea (like many "Italian" places here) but actually amazing. I can't wait to go back. It's called Toolbox for anyone wondering. Then we discovered a hidden little park/ancient fortress thingy. Korea is so neat. Here are some pictures!

Rice paddy view from the train.

Cool stone thingies in the park.

Lots of cute old people were chilling
at the park. Under this ornate gazebo
some old men were playing board
games.

Very serene little pocket amidst the concrete jungle.

Terrifying man with a teacup spine.

Whereas Gyeongju's mascots are
the Shilla King and Queen, Ulsan's
thing is whales. This park bench
had dolphin sides!

Amazing bear hats. Sadly, child sized.

Very amusing tag on a pear of underwear I purchased.

And finally a little bit of Annie's mailbox. Business is slow, but still active!

"Dear Anne techer,

Hello! I'm Bak Ga yeon. Today I introduce my family. My family. My family is Father, Mother and me! I don't have sister or brother. My father job is train driver! My mother is nothing of job. My favorit food is spagetti & ice cream. And best one is chicken!!! I love chicken. It's really delicious <3 I dont like vegetables. And best one is onion. Onion is very very very taste bad. Do you like onion? My favorit animal is Panda. Panda is ve~~~ry cute <3 but I never saw panda because Panda is on China. In zoo I never saw Panda too. What your favorite animal? Don't you like Panda? I always thanks for you. Your teaching is very fun and I like your teaching. Bye~"

Firstly, it's really exciting her Hello was not followed by a question mark like 95% of my letters. Secondly, adorable.