2012.05.20 - Spring Festival
Bye Bye Bella & Tony and Hello Spring Festival
This weeks entry starts where we left off last time .... with food !
Last weekend we had invited Bella and Tony for a farewell party in our house together with Agnieszka and Michael. Paula wanted to show off her Chilean culinary heritage to Bella after having enjoyed Bella's Croatian feast the week earlier, so she spent Friday and Saturday preparing a truly fantastic dinner ! Even Pietro - who is rather picky when it comes to non-Italian food - liked it (he came over for dessert but just had to try Paula's cooking !) My contribution was the empanadas. Paula had made the stuffing but the dough is my home turf.
The "Chilean" chef !
Chicken empanadas ready for the oven
So the menu was Empanadas, Pastel de choclo and nutella calorie bombs for dessert. Even though we had invited some very good chefs, we were able to raise some praise. Even Pietro liked the food.
content ... Tony, Bella, Anieszka, Michael, Pietro and Paula
Next day Pietro and Jamie came over for a leftover lunch before we drove down to Ilsan Beach for a coffee and then on to Bangeojin to look at an apartment which Pietro was considering moving in to.
Pietro and Jamie for lunch. One of the very few weekends that Pietro didn't spend in Busan (it appears that Ulsan is too boring for him...)
On the roof of the building Pietro had fallen in love with in Bangeojin. He likes the ocean and would probably be happiest living on a barge right in the middle of the ocean (or Busan!)
Our neighbors Chris and Kristen had gone to Disneyland in Tokyo for a long weekend, so we were babysitting their puppy Kimchi. She's very charming ... for us, but for Peo it was a different case. Peo never really took to her and always tried to stay out of her way, which was pretty easy seeing that Kimchi is about 10cm tall and can't jump on to the furniture. Kimchi just wanted to play and never realized that 1 out 3 Ps didn't like her. But the other two Ps did ... when she didn't pee or poo all over. We took her out for some long walks but she would never do it outside - the minute we got back to the apartment she would though! Arrggghh.
Kimchi loved Peo's scratching board - Peo hasn't used it since !
Kimchi has a way charming herself into people's arms ... here with Anieszka
Even Pietro took her for a walk
Wednesday we went down to HQ bar with Bella and Tony for a last drink before they move to China. Paula is going to miss Bella - together with Agnieszka they have been going everywhere together these last 4 months. But we are pretty sure that they will return here - hopefully before we leave.
Our bowling partners and Paula's painting partner - Tony and Bella
Saying our goodbyes at HQ. Tony and Bella had spent days packing boxes (after 7 years in Ulsan!), so they were tired.
Yesterday the yard had arranged the annual Spring Festival at the Spanish Soccer field. This is a day of activities, good food and good opportunities to meet up with the friends we don't see so often. The weather was nice and we had a very good day. Even won a few prizes - came second in the people passing and won the tug of war. The festival ended with the raffle and the main prize went to Carolina - the daughter of my colleague Trygve. We had been sitting together and Caroline had been playing around with our tickets until Annelin (her mother) gave her ticket No. 2000 to play with, as this was an easy number for her to remember. As the main prize came up - a scooter, I said to Trygve that this had their name written on it as he had bought a brand new Ducati last week. And .... the lucky number was 2000 !
10:30 and it was already busy at the soccer field
Anatoliy and Paula on the yellow team. Chris and Sasha Jane in the background
The Ps
Nicola performed with her Zumba troupe
We had met Tyson a few days earlier when we went with him and Pietro for dinner at the Turkish restaurant in bangeojin
Tommy and Isis enjoying the nice food from Hyundai hotel. It is quite an arrangement the yard makes for us supervisors once a year
Ready for the shoe toss
Shortly before banging into somebody's head (word of advice - don't pick up your lost shoe in a shoe-toss competition !)
Annelin and me ready for the tug-of-war
Melissa being interviewed after the first win
Waiting for the Championship !
3-2-1 ...
Zohreh was there also...
In the Championship the first round was a tie ....
.... but then we won the two next rounds
Annelin being interviewed for the television after picking up the first prize in the raffle
The kids loved the scooter - especially the horn!
The first ride
Now she can ride alongside Trygve on his Ducati
In the evening we were supposed to go to a 1-year birthday party, but Paula had been exposed to too much sun and wasn't feeling too good for a couple of hours. But she soon came around so we joined my colleagues in the back yard for a BBQ and a drink or two. Although we had a good time, we had really been looking forward to the birthday party ....
This morning I went to play volleyball for the first time since I twisted my ankle last year. All good - only started to give me a little trouble after an hour and a half. No one have played for a long time, so we were only 5 people. We still had a few good games on a smaller court.
In the afternoon we went for coffee with Agnieszka and Michael at the new cafe on Ilsan Beach - Icebean. Summer is here and people have started swimming in the sea. The compound pool has also opened, so it won't be long before I jump in. Finally !
Below are a few more photos from the week:
Playing table tennis with Serhiy
Haven't used the gym much, but at least I got a little exercise on the side
With håvard on a long ride through the Mine Fields!
A huge Hula - Håvard i 2m tall!
Coming back from the beach, we came across these three men playing saxophone. The funny thing was that none of them played the same tune and none of them could actually play! I wonder why they had chosen the same place and why they didn't separate a little ... so funny, but maybe you should have been there!
Kora's cooking class - 25 people turned up!
Not everything is orderly here in Korea (is anything?!?!)
Paula's latest creation
Yesterday's ride with Rolf and Håvard. It is quickly getting warmer now and the trails are closing in. Coming home all scratched up from the bushes so will have to look for the open/wide trails now.