We got to visit 울산 Ulsan today! Even though we didn't go to the city part of 울산 Ulsan, I thought it was a pretty city. Just the nature and looking around was pretty. We went to 울산 Ulsan because they have petroglyphs preserved in an area and a nice museum on petroglyphs.
Originally we were supposed to go to 안동 Andong because they have these villages preserved from centuries ago but because we ran into some troubles beforehand, we decided to postpone going to 안동 Andong because it's too far away/a couple hours away that because we ran into some troubles, a short visit wouldn't do it justice so we decided to visit 울산 Ulsan.
The main trouble that we ran into was when Dr. Peterson went to the bank. He had trouble withdrawing money from his account and the bank in Korea and his bank back home weren't helping. We were at the bank for 3 hours. At first, we thought it wouldn't be bad. Great studying time! Unfortunately after an hour or two, it's hard to study. We thought we were going crazy.
Before going to 울산 Ulsan, we went to this Buddhist temple where they had painted pictures of Buddha on the walls recently comtemporarily. It was new because of the paint and the style looked different. They had these cool panels that taught a lesson about enlightenment. It starts out with a boy seeing footprints. That represents searching for discovery. The boy comes across a brown cow. He wrestles with the cow and it's very difficult at first. That represents coming across an idea and you wrestle with it at first because it's new and it doesn't make sense. The brown color of the cow represents confusion and lack of understanding because a new idea is foreign to one's understanding. The boy finally stops wrestling with the cow and then the cow starts to turn white. That represents when you stop wrestling with an idea and start to accept an idea for what it is, it then becomes clear to your understanding. Then the boy rides the cow. That represents one finally understanding the new concept and it working in harmony with his thoughts.
제주도 Jeju-do statues at the Buddhist temple.
The museum was in the shape of a whale! Haha how cool is that? Each city in Korea has a mascot and 울산 Ulsan's mascot is a whale. I think it's because 울산 Ulsan specializes in shipmaking so they chose a marine mascot. In 김해 Gimhae, they have some type of mythical creature and in 서울 Seoul they use 해치 haechi which is that fire eater mythical creature featured on 경복궁 Gyeongbok palace. But anyways, a whale shaped museum is just rad.
On the steps there were painted whales and symbols.
We looked at the museum inside which was really neat. Man, the museums here, I would have gotten bored a long time ago if they weren't nice and interactive. We were told that we had to hike towards the petroglyphs. We were hiking for a while and didn't see anything and we thought we were going the wrong way and so we went back. We found a way to drive there and when we got to the place, we found out we were on the right track all along. :-( Disappointing huh?
The petroglyphs were on a wall that was a couple feet long. Some of them looked faded/weathered away but some you could see clearly.
Petroglyphs
아름다운 울산 Beautiful Ulsan!
Near the petroglyphs
We were tired and hungry from hiking, waiting at the bank, and driving everywhere. Dr. Peterson was the most tired of course. Jet lag plus driving everywhere. He took us to Orange again for dinner! YAY! We were so excited. Doesn't meat sound so good after hiking? I thought this part of 울산 Ulsan was so pretty and you know I'm not one moved/blown away by nature. Just walking on the path and looking at the green mountains, rivers, and sky was more than words can express. Korea is so beautiful! You don't have to go far to find beautiful things here.
