July 15th 2007 - Bill's 60th

July 15th 2007

With Val, Chris and Hannah in the rain

This week has been wet - plenty wet, as my Caribbean friends would say ! Still, we haven't had as much rain as I had expected, considering that we are in the middle of the rainy season now. Anyway, what better time for bowling, playing poker and squash or watching movies !? We've been pretty busy this week with social calls and games ! Tuesday we were invited to dinner at Flemming and Marilyn (my boss). They were just back from 2 weeks in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, so we were updated on the homely gossip! Paula had been in Gyeong-ju with Val, Hannah and Chris during the day. Plenty wet, I think. We went bowling on Wednesday with a group of friends, poker night at Val and John's on Thursday and then on to Bill's 60th birthday Friday night. Saturday my inspections were canceled, so I managed to get away after one hour on the job. Then I spent 2½ hours playing squash with Chris. We literally played until we dropped, and we are both paying the price today, one day later. Yesterday evening was dedicated to relaxing with a good movie ... I was busted.

Today we went to Ulsan Grand Park, on the other side of town. It is a large recreational park and a pleasant surprise. Right at the edge of town, between the soccer stadium and a golf course, it seems to be a little breathing hole for the people of Ulsan. Unlike many other parks here, there were no loudspeakers and no electric mini-motorcycles, which we appreciated. The weather was really nice, which was a nice change after 5 days of rain. We got back early, as we were having guests for dinner - our surrogate family Val, John, Hannah and Chris

Esta semana estubo bien llovida ! como buena "epoca de lluvias" pero como a mi no me molesta yo andaba feliz pero bueno que mejor que una tarde de bowling , poker , squash y peliculas para pasar la lluvia. Estubimos bien ocupados esta semana. El martes comimos con Flemming y Marilyn ( jefe de Peder ) ,ellos volvieron de 2 semanas de vacaciones. Yo estube en Gyeong-ju con Val , su hijo y su nuera , lo pasamos super bien , una pena que estaba lloviendo , pero a ellos les gusto bastante. Miercoles fuimos a jugar Bowling, como siempre un grupo de 12 personas, lo pasamos super. Jueves poker y mahjong en casa de Val y viernes fue el cumple numero 60 de Bill , el juega tenis con Peder , asique le hicimos una fiesta sorpresa . Lo pasamos super bien .

Sabado Peder no tubo trabajo asique fuimos a jugar ping pong y luego el se fue a jugar squash con Chris por casi 3 horas....volvio arrastrandose por supuesto.

El domingo fuimos al Gran parque en el centro de Ulsan , muy lindo .

Poker night. I lasted about 1 hour, then I was broke... I guess I will never make my money on gambling. Luckily the stakes weren't high (I didn't have to bet neither Peo nor the car!)

La noche de Poker . Menos mal que no me aposto a mi y Peo porque Pedrito perdio toda la plata...jiji

Paula and Val helped decorate the bar at the new foreigners compound for Bills surprise party Friday night.

Val y yo decoramos para la fiesta sorpresa de Bill el viernes . Estubo buenisima

It was his 60th, but he said he felt something fishy going on, so I guess it wasn't a huge surprise to him. The cake was surprisingly good (I'm not big on cakes - hence the surprise).

Aqui la torta....muy rica !

Here's the man of the hour - Bill and his wife Ann Marie. Bill was one of my tennis partners back when the weather was drier.

Aqui el cumpleanero y AnnMarie su senora .

Some did karaoke, others danced and I played pool !

Algunos cantaron en karaoke.

I have uploaded a video of Val doing some weird tribal dance.

UPDATE: Now watch the video here:

Ulsan Grand Park. It looks almost like home !

Aqui el Gran parque de Ulsan. Nos sentimos en casa al ver el Molino , como en Malmö !

At least this could have been in Malmø ...

Yo con el molino .

The back trails offered a little relief on a day with 30°C in the shade.

Para recorrer el parque andamos por el cerro para evitar el calor, habia 3o grados !

In the background you can see the butterfly garden. The park has several museums and a war memorial. We will definitely come back to explore more.

Atras se ve el jardin de mariposas, muy lindo. El parque tiene varios museos y el museo en memoria de la guerra de las dos coreas. Tenemos que volver a este parque porque es bien grande y no alcanzamos a verlo todo.

Paula with her favorite display butterflies

Yo con mis mariposas preferidas .

Some of my favorite butterflies.

Algunas de las favoritas de Peder.

It was pretty difficult to get a good shot of the butterflies in the air and this is as close as I got. You will have to imagine the rest. The garden was really nice and the displays looked interesting, though all in Korean.

Fue bien dificil para Peder sacarle foto a las mariposas, pero trato por un monton de rato hasta que logro buenas fotos.

It's easier to catch them on film when they are eating, but unfortunately much less interesting.

Era facil sacarles fotos cuando comian pero no eran las mas interesantes .

Here the happy family ! Val adopted me when she was here alone (John was 6 weeks in Nigeria) because "going out with you guys is like going out with my son" ! Anyway, now both her husband and son are here, but we are still not discarded and thrown on the street. Which reminds me; here in Ulsan it is possible to adopt a child for a limited time. When you leave Korea you will have to hand in the child again !!!

Aqui la familia feliz ! Val adopto a Peder , ya que , cuando estaba sola, John su marido estubo 6 semanas en Nigeria, nosotros saliamos con ella y siempre decia que era como salir con su hijo ! y ahora aqui estamos con Chris , su hijo y su novia Hanna comiendo el domingo aqui en casa. Lo que me recuerda que aqui en Corea se puede adoptar un nino por el tiempo que uno vive aqui y luego al irse a otro pais hay que dejar al nino en el orfanato devuelta , es increible !