Woah, Blossom!

Once a year, there is a phenomenon that takes place in Korea. It creeps in stealthily and sneaks out without notice. This wonder, my friends, is the dazzling cherry blossom. It lasts for only two weeks out of they year, and sometimes less. You never know when it's coming, and you have to act fast when it finally does. I learned this lesson well two weekends ago when I went to the festival that was rescheduled at the last minute because the trees had not yet blossomed. But this week, we finally had the right combination of weather to make these little beauties appear. And now, only four days later, there is barely a hint that they ever bloomed in the first place.

I took in the sights at Yeoido Park (again) on Saturday with my friends, Lorainne and Katie. We initially went the wrong direction and thought that the one or two trees we were seeing here and there were it. But it was OK, because we were able to see this amazing statue of King Sejong the Great, the creator of Korea's written language of Hangul.

As we started in the right direction, we kept running into groups of officers who, we assumed, were out doing training sessions because, well, they didn't look all that official. I thought it was funny how much they looked like Robo-cop in their crowd-control gear, and I wanted a picture. I tried to be all incognito in case it wasn't OK to take a picture (yes, my mother's fear of police is alive and well in her daughter). Joke was on me because right after I took this picture I jammed my knee into a cement post and made a complete ruckus.

We finally made it to the festival area. It was wall-to-wall people, which wasn't too bad since the trees were so beautiful. The entire street was lined with them, and the street was actually shut down so people could meander and admire. The only downside of the day was the pushing and shoving. In the United States, I'm used to hearing “excuse me” when someone is trying to pass, and pushing is only seen at Toys-R-Us the day after Thanksgiving. That's not at all the case in Korea. In fact, the only place I hear “excuse me” is in my classroom. It's just part of the culture to snake your way through people, shoving them with your hand when they haven't “sensed” that you have places to go. The subway was so crowded leaving the park that I just kept saying to myself, “I am a tree, I am a tree.” No, I don't believe in transcendental meditation, but cracking a joke on a crowded subway train is a good way to make it through!

This final Yeoido picture is just a bonus. As we were walking back to the subway station, I saw this adorable little girl in an adorable outfit. Hello Kitty is all the rage here, and this coat is this cutest thing I've seen in a while. Pair that with the cute socks and she's almost as cute as my niece!

But that's not all folks! I have a friend named SuJin from my favorite coffee shop (I will blog about said shop in the future, but not today). SuJin and I have been talking about doing something together for a while, and she finally got a day off on Sunday! I didn't have any Easter plans other than church, so it turned out to be great timing. I really wanted to take in more of the blossoms, so we went to Children's Grand Park.

I thought this would be a park full of large areas of grass and park equipment. Boy, was I wrong! It had those things, but so much more! There was a botanical garden, kiddie rides, roller coasters, art displays, loads of trails, and a zoo.

In the above picture, we were wandering around the trails looking at the trees when the most amazing thing happened. The wind picked up and blew the petals off the blossoms so that it looked like it was snowing! It was quite the surreal moment. I hopped into the picture quickly but that one's on SuJin's camera. It died out just as quickly as it had started by the time I got my camera ready.

Next, we walked through the zoo. There were lions and tigers and bears...oh, my! (Bet you didn't see that coming!) I was slightly disturbed by their living conditions. It all seemed like too much cement for me. The painted backgrounds just weren't convincing me that the animals were happy here. I'm no animal-rights activist, but even I could tell there was a problem. Especially when I looked into how much fencing was not holding them in, and how the small gulf between human and tiger was not going to stop an angry cat.

I was quite surprised by the bird selection in the zoo. Owls; I get that. Peakocks; sure. Doves, OK, you're starting to lose me there. But the more we walked, the more confused I became. Turkeys? Chickens? Seriously? And here's the kicker...pigeons! SuJin was quite entertained by the stunned look on my face (she didn't understand the animal selection either). But we kept walking and saw some beautiful sights.

It wasn't quite as crowded at Yeoido, but it was still a lot of walking. We decided to sit down on the grass and relax for a while. Now, here's just a small example of what makes Korean people so wonderful (this excludes the pushers on the subway). SuJin not only bought me a bottle of water before I arrived, but she also bought us two kinds of Kimbap (refer to a previous blog for an explanation) to snack on for the afternoon! She's so thoughtful. Not only that, but when our day at the park was done, she bought me dinner on the way home! I am quite blessed with my Korean friends!

This last one was taken right outside the gates of the park. I just threw it in here for my dad. When are you comin' to visit!?

This whole cherry blossom experience is quite a metaphor for life. When you see an opportunity come your way, seize it! You never know when the winds of change will come and blow it all away.