Visitors and Vietnam

I think I have just completed my longest/ busiest week in Korea. Last Friday Dennis' friend Mike arrived in Ulsan after working in Sackland Island for a month. We were both so excited to have our first visitor that we had a hard time sleeping on Thursday night. Mike arrived Friday afternoon so before Dennis got home I gave him a quick walking tour of our neighborhood. D's work had a team building dinner that night so Mike came along and we all stuffed ourselves full of bbq, Hite, and Soju. After dinner we bar hopped to several places and decided it was time to head home. That Saturday we wanted to give Mike the full Korean experience so we headed off to Tongdosa to see a temple and then off to Old Downtown to check out some of the shops. We were all very tired from the long day and the night before we went home in the afternoon to relax at the apartment. Once we were all showered and recharged we headed out for "Shabu Shabu" (sp) for dinner, which is where you are served thin slices of beef and vegetables which you cook in the pot of boiling broth in the middle of the table. After you have finished the meat and veggies, you can move on to the noodle course and then the Korean rice (rice, seaweed, and egg). Full of dinner we headed to the beach to drink some beers and set off fireworks on the beach. It was such a great visit with Mike and we were sad to see him go but fortunately we had more visitors coming our way that week. We sure appreciated having him change his travel plans to come to Ulsan to visit us.

I was expecting the Gorman family to arrive on Monday August 16th but because of some mistakes on their travel planning they were actually going to be arriving on Tuesday August 17th. On the morning of the 17th there was some serious weather in the Ulsan area and their flight was canceled out of Seoul so they decided to get on a flight to Busan. So I hopped in the car and drove the distance to Busan to get them. It was a very long day but we were very happy to have them safely with us in Ulsan. They have all been troopers here (especially Kieran) and are dealing with jet lag very well. Since they were only in Ulsan for a short time we crammed a whole lot into one day! We started with a trip to California beach (local water park), then off to Gyeongju for sightseeing, then to the Bulguksa temple, then old downtown, and ended the day with Sushi in new downtown. The next day we were scheduled to leave for Vietnam for a 2 week holiday together so we had to finish packing as the cab was coming at 6:30am to get us.

After the drive to Busan, flight to Saigon, flight to Da Nang and a cab ride to Hoi An the Gorman clan (well some of us) have made it to the Golden Sands Reort in Hoi An, Vietnam. The resort is beautiful and very comfortable! Unfortunately it is pouring rain out right now, which is actually alright because it gives us a chance to relax and recover from the traveling. Our plan today is to head into the old town and go to the tailors and get some clothes made. There is a beautiful spa in the resort and Patti and I plan on take full advantage of that! We have our first massage today and that is to be followed in the following days with more massage, pedicures, and facials!

So as you can see why I am considering this the busiest week I have had! I have enjoyed every minute of it and look forward to the next 2 weeks which I know will be very busy too. I will keep you updated as I can.

Miss you all
-J