Safe and Sound

It's been a damn long time since I wrote anything here. I've been meaning to... really. I just didn't get around to it.

First off, I got to Ulsan after a 5 hour drive, 3 plane rides (2hr domestic, 8 hour international and a 6 hour international) and then a 5 hour but from Incheon Airport to Ulsan. And yeah, after all that, I was tired, and in need of a shower. I got to my new place, and was surprised as to how big it is (well, compared to the last box I was living in) but was immediately hit by the "someone used to smoke in this place" smell. The teacher I replaced didn't smoke, but the one before her apparently did... a lot!

Ulsan is a nice place. In a way, it kinda feels like Gwangju. It has roughly the same population, the street pavement feels and looks the same, and stuff just seems to look similar. But, that's just Korea, I think - if you've been to one large provincial city, you've been to them all (Busan excluded ^^).

The location of my place isn't too bad as well. I'm within walking distance of a lot of stuff: bus terminals, train station, shopping, downtowns (new and old) and a river with an awesome walking/biking track. Plus, the bus system is pretty much what you'd expect for a Korean city this size.

I have a lot of friends in this area and I've met up with a lot of them already, and it's only been two weeks. I'm only an hour and a half-ish out of Busan, which means day trips on weekends are possible. Other places, like Jinhae, Changwon, Masan and Daegu are close too, so it's not too bad.

It's been cloudy and rainy since I've been here, but the weather from last weekend has been a bit better, with a lot of sun, but still quite humid. I got sunburnt on Sunday, but not that much, so it actually felt good XD

Work is okay too.  A (hell of a) lot better than my previous job. The timetable is a bit packed, but I do like having every morning off to do stuff. The people I work with are nice too.

I'm only 2 weeks in to my 1 year contract, but I've got a good feeling about it. Obviously, I'll have less doubt when I get paid, which is early next month. With all the "hagwon horror stories" out there, and how I found a good hagwon back in 2005 and stayed there for three years, it would be nice if this job worked out the same as that one.

As of yesterday afternoon, I've got my "welcome to korea" cold. Yeah, a cold in summer. It's happened every time I've got to Korea. Just a "welcoming present" as I like to call it - You need to get used to our cold XD