July 1st 2007 - Club 7!!
July 1st 2007
New Compound parties
Rainy season has definitely arrived ! It has rained all day today and my tennis this morning was obviously cancelled, so I went to play squash instead. I've taken up squash here as an alternative to badminton and tennis, so I still have a bit to learn. This passed week I have been lucky enough to play a few locals at the fitness center - they are quite good at making me sweat ! It's a tough game ..
This afternoon our friend Anders from Mærsk gave me a tour of one of the big Hyundai yards here in the vicinity. It's huge - you can see photos of Paula's tour of the same yard about two months ago elsewhere on our page (sorry - don't remember the exact date. Some time in April). After this I took Anders to see our miniature yard ! Even though our yard and our vessels are MUCH smaller than what Mærsk is involved in, our project is probably much more interesting than anything they are building. So there were still a few things to show off !! Now we are just back from a home cooked Chinese dinner with some of our friends. I got to play with the cat all night, so I was happy !!
Last week at work was busy with inspections and a couple of trips to Busan. Our boss Flemming is on vacation, so I have been handed a project concerning the anchors on all the vessels. It appears that the anchors fitted to the vessels are too small. If this sounds like a small problem ... I can assure you that it is not ! Ship and anchor are fitted to each other, so when you change the anchor, you will have to surgery on the ship ! So at the moment we are running some model tests to ensure proper fit and minimum alterations to the existing structure. This is at the same time a very interesting project and a crap project ! Nobody like to start cutting in a new ship which has already gone into service !
I'm afraid that we are running low on photos to post here. The weather (humid and wet) puts a damper on our activities - we're hibernating !
La temporada de lluvias ya llego no hay dudas , no para ! pero con calor asique no es tan terrible. El problema es la humedad que se siente. Este fin de semana estubo lleno de cosas, el viernes fuimos a jugar Badminton con Peder , sabado un asadito en el compound de Extranjeros y ahi nos quedamos hasta como las 24.00 y luego partimos a un bar que es bien conocido en la cuidad , es uno de los pocos que esta abierto hasta tarde y que se puede bailar . Ademas esta lleno de chicas filipinas y coreanas. El domingo almorzamos con Anders y Marlene , nuestros amigos danes/chileno que se van ahora el miercoles a Valdivia . Anders aprovecho de mostrar a Peder el astillero de Hyundai, uno de los mas grandes del mundo ,asique ahi andaban sube y baja barcos . Una pena que el dia estaba super nublado, no ponemos fotos porque la verdad salieron bien nubladas. En la noche Henning y Violet nos invitaron a comer comida china hecha en casa , lo pasamos super bien ! muy amorosos.
Peder estubo con mucho trabajo en la semana y muchos viajes a Busan , lo que no lo pone muy contento porque generalmente se demoran mucho en el camino y las inspecciones no siempre dan resultados positivos.
Aqui van algunas fotos de la semana.
This is what we wake up to most mornings. Paula finds it hard to deal with the humidity, but by staying inside with the AC cranked up high, she makes it through the morning. In the afternoon it often clears up a little, which allows her to step outside. I'm luckily not affected by the high humidity.
Asi se ve en las mananas desde el balcon , una neblina increible . Para mi la humedad es bien pesada y no puedo salir mucho porque me canso y me cuesta respirar . Ademas es "bien agradable" volver a la casa mojado como sopa !. Generalmente despues de almuerzo se pone mas normal y ahi aprovecho de salir . A Peder con la humedad no le pasa nada asique el bien .
There are many foreigners here, working on offshore projects or private or navy shipbuilding. So there is almost always a party somewhere. But as we at Kosan work half day Saturday, we don't go out much. Normally only on Saturdays... The above is from the foreigners compound on Saturday.
En Ulsan hay bastantes extranjeros y uno de los compound de extranjeros esta a 3 minutos en auto de nuestra casa y siempre se organiza algo , asique la verdad la vida social no nos falta .
Yesterday (Saturday) Marlene and Anders had to be sent off to Chile. They are going to spend about 3 years on the ship yard where I did my internship 5 years ago. Marlene is Chilean by the way, so she's happy to touch base for a few years.
El sabado en el asado . Aqui yo y Marlene , ellos se van el miercoles a Valdivia, al sur de chile. Una cuidad linda pero llueve llueve y sigue lloviendo ! Marlene es de concepcion en Chile , asique esta bien feliz de irse 3 anos a uno de los proyectos que Mærsk tiene en Chile.
Hanging out but mostly talking about work anyway ! Nerdy, I know !
Aqui Peder con unos de los chicos .
Marlene, Val and Paula. After the party at the compound, we went to the 7 Pub. This is one of the late night clubs in town where your drink comes with a young Phillipino girl attached to it ! The above photo is from the compound - I'm not sure that photos in the 7Pub would have been appreciated.
Marlene, Valerie y yo . Aqui estamos en el compuound y luego nos fuimos al 7Pub. Es como un club nocturno o algo asi . Es uno de los pocos lugares que tiene musica y se puede bailar y ademas esta abierto hasta bien tarde.