*Oh Christmas Tree tune*
Oh cherry blossom tree (gotta sing it fast), oh cherry blossom tree!
How lovely are your blossoms!
Oh cherry blossom tree, oh cherry blossom tree!
How lovely are your blossoms!
So full and white when spring is here.
You fill my heart with love and cheer.
Oh cherry blossom tree, oh cherry blossom tree!
How lovely are your blossomssssss!
It's that time of year again, cherry blossom time! And thank goodness for it! Nothing gets me more excited about spring than the beautiful cherry blossoms. With cherry blossoms being the favored flower of the Japanese (but not officially declared as the national flower), the abundance of these trees in Korea may have something to do with their past Japanese occupation. If that is indeed the case then I can declare one positive thing coming out of Korea's rotten history with Japan...and most Koreans would agree. Everyone is out and about traveling to various cities known for their excellent cherry blossoms, in their new spring skirts and heels, boyfriend in arm, getting their annual photo shoot amongst the blossoms. Me too...minus the skirt and heels.
The last two weekends I've traveled out of Busan to enjoy the cherry blossoms. First was to Jinhae, a smaller coastal city to the south of Busan. South Korea's naval academy is located there and they are known for putting together a great festival during cherry blossom season. This year the festival was much smaller due to the recent navy ship sinking tragedy. Follow this
link for the full story if you aren't familiar with what I am referring to. But despite the smaller size than usual there was still the array of horrifying street food and strange sights that signify a festival in Korea. One hill in the center of the city had a lookout tower with great views of the city and coast line.
Then was a trip to Gyeongju, Korea's cultural city. A group of friends and I had gone to Gyeongju last year for the cherry blossom festival so this year we were prepared. Rule number 1: Traffic will be horrible so by all means possible avoid taking a bus. So, A) we took the train
into the city and B) we rented a scooter to get us around! Best decisions ever as we were able to enjoy the city to it's fullest! We rode around Namsan mountain, found a palace, went to the famous temple, and enjoyed a stroll around the beautiful Bomun lake all in our 6 hour rental time limit. The traffic was bad, of course, but I weaved (with guidance from Kat on the back) around all the 4 wheeled suckers, even taking the sidewalks like a true Korean at one point in the day. A scooter is pure joy!
In non-cherry blossom news: I have joined the teacher's volleyball team at school. Every Wednesday afternoon we practice or have a match against another school. I have impressed my co-workers (middle school and high school volleyball has finally paid off!) enough that I am allowed to play with the men. This is a serious testament to their faith in my abilities. Some things are different. For example, they play with 9 on the court here as opposed to 6. This I am still getting used to. I'd forgotten how much I love the game of volleyball. Every week I leave wanting to play longer. It's fun, active and it allows me to interact with some of the other teachers at school (even though most are still too shy to speak English with me).
It's hard to believe but I've been here almost 6 months again. With only 6 more months left to go it's time to make plans about what's to come next. A.k.a the post-Korea days. I'm doing my research and brainstorming/dreaming in my free time...more on that in a later post...
