Afternoon Adventures

Now that midterms are over, one of my friends uploaded some pictures from the cherry blossom festival that I'd like to share. Basically, it's a bunch of pictures of me for the sake of any relatives reading this.

Pretty green-ness and a flower ring

Tandem biking along the River Han

In a fountain. It was really too cold for such tomfoolery.

On a Korean swing

Flowers! Oh and some people too.

Kite flying

I heart biking!

Taking pictures of people taking pictures

In front of the National Assembly

Ok. Enough of that. On to another afternoon adventure!
It is quite astounding what all you can discover just going for a walk...
But first, some pictures of campus. The cherry trees are no longer in bloom, but there are a myriad of other bushes and trees that are just as beautiful as the cherry blossoms were.

Purple

On the way to class

Orange

Pink

More pink

The cherry blossom petals like snow on the ground

While going for a walk with Petra and Samantha, we stumbled across a mini forest not too far from campus.  It was good to be surrounded by green things and no crowds again, though you could hear the sounds of a freeway and construction nearby. There was also trash everywhere, though this was hardly noticeable if you kept your eyes off the ground (one exception: a soda can in a tree).

Forest path

Green!

Zebra striped violets

 We also stumbled across a Korean grave, though the tablet was written in Chinese. The table in front of the mound is used for offerings. During Chuseok (the major Korean harvest festival) and on Lunar New Year, it is common practice to visit the graves of family members with offerings of their favorite foods and fruits and place them on the table.

Gravesite

Flowers growing on the mound

Another grave

 As we wandered, we strayed into an area that seemed much more rural than any place I'd been thus far. The streets were narrow, the homes were houses instead of apartments, and there were plots of farm land scattered throughout the neighborhood.

Bushes on the side of the road

We were offered some warm mandu by gravediggers breaking for lunch

We ate them next to a lake

A strange plant, an old Korean woman told us it was called ppa and used for making kimchi

Blue slate roof

Ivy

One house had cows

And an adorable puppy

The door was intricately decorated

Sad to see us go

Cherry Blossom Festival

Just in case you were wondering why I haven't posted anything in a few weeks, I was studying for five midterm exams. I finished the last one a few hours ago, and now get to enjoy a four day weekend!  

A while back, I went with some people from the SKKU Global Switching Program to the Cherry Blossom Festival. There are many such flower festivals around Korea, but we went to the one in Yeouido in Seoul, near the National Assembly building and right next to the Han River. I actually ended up going twice since the trees weren't in full bloom the first time I went. The trees were still beautiful, however, and there were many street performances going on. Since it was the opening night, there was also a fireworks show.

Prepping the fireworks.

One of the first cherry trees to bloom.

We rented two tandem bikes and raced along the river. There were tons of people out and about enjoying the weather and exercising.

My new friends from the Global Switching Program

Korean style swing.

A sports kite.

Several men were flying sports kites. We stopped to watch one, and he asked our Korean friends if Samantha and I wanted to try it for free (usually the fee is 10,000 Won). He kept on mentioning his son, and told us that his son needed a wife who could fly a kite. That pretty much ruled me out, since I ended up crashing his kite. I was mortified, but he thankfully wasn't angry, and the kite seemed to be undamaged. He even gave us his business card.

This guy was the kite instructor for Shinee (a kpop boy band)

Fireworks!

We got within 500 feet where they were setting them off

Cherry blossoms by night

The street performances included a high school orchestra (whose flutes were out of tune). They played a Star Wars medley, which elicited a squee from yours truly, and then accompanied Kim SoHyeon, a famous musical actress. She sang Think Of Me from Phantom of the Opera(not the best rendition I've heard), and then a Korean Soccer anthem (which was exponentially better than the first song she sang).

Kim SoHyeon

Random parade of people with weird masks

A drummer. They also had bells and squeaky noisemakers.

I went back the next weekend for even more cherry blossoms. This time, all the trees were covered in beautiful white flowers. There were also way more people. : /

PINK!

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...

Bought this rice bread for 3,000 Won

Ain't it gorgeous?

Aw, one of thousands of couples at the festival

The crowds were out in full force

So... Many... Flowers...

A rice cake with a chestnut center from a street vendor

Surprisingly delicious ice cream from a cart

We sat down next to the Han River to study for midterms

This bird was almost shooed away before I could get a picture

A police? dog

 Back in Suwon, we ate a coconut and climbed one of the cherry blossom trees on campus. This was the biggest one I'd seen here, and being up in the branches, surrounded by white flowers, was incredibly calming. I got a small shock though, as a small branch upon which I had been bracing myself broke. Thankfully I hadn't put a lot of weight on it and easily regained my balance.

In the tree

It was getting dark before we climbed back down.

And a random picture of a stream in Suwon

Bye.