Blossoming Seoul: Bye Bye Blossoms, Hello Spring

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Bye Bye Blossoms, Hello Spring

While I should be grading or baking or planning, I have decided to take exactly five minutes out of my crazy weekend before grades are due and write a quick post about cherry blossoms. This is a long awaited season in Korea as it marks the true arrival of spring. It gives us the hope of warmer days, longer daylight hours, and the beautiful blooms that bring color and cheer to the dreary winter landscape…or in our case, the concrete jungle that is home to ten million city dwellers like ourselves. I worked very hard to get a majority of my grading done so I could have a two hour escape from "the hill" into the city to see what is left of the cherry blossoms. The unseasonable warmth has brought the white and pink flowers out a bit early this year and the recent wind and rain are threatening to become their undoing, so I knew I had to act fast!

Last year I had the privilege of going on a daylong tour of the best blossom spots in the city--this year I had to settle for joining the throngs of people out on this beautiful afternoon in Yeoido Park where the cherry trees line both sides of the street for over a mile. Erin and I hopped on the subway and followed the crowd to the start of the walking path. We were more or less shoved along passed the National Assembly building and finally broke free and made it to the pathway where we could get a bit of breathing room. From there it was every woman for herself:). Camera in hand, I meandered along the sidewalk, trying to capture the essence of this glorious season and the short lived bloom of these signature trees. Although I snapped nearly 100 photos in less than an hour, here's what I decided to keep and edit from today's outing. As this is Erin's last spring in Korea, I'm so glad we decided to go out and enjoy the trees together!