Cherry Blossom Fail

Call me silly, but I always have to post pictures of flowers and nature in the springtime. Last April I posted pictures of trees blossoming near our home in Minnesota. It was truly a glorious event, because Minnesota winters are long, cold and depressing. Every year I feel like the winter just might last a full 365 days.

The winter of 2009-2010 here in Seoul was quite bitter. It snowed at least four times. Not Minnesota-style knee-deep snow, but we actually had to *gasp* cancel classes because of snow one day in January.

That said, I feel like the winter here lasted longer than it should have - or at least longer than I was expecting. So maybe you can imagine my elation when the Golden Bells started blooming last weekend:

Believe it or not, but I used to hate these flowers. They were just too bright for me - not dainty enough.

Now I welcome them with all my heart.

There were plenty of Golden Bells decorating the National Assembly Building. They make a lovely fountain of gold against drab white concrete.



There was plenty of lovely green foliage, as well.



While in the area, we visited a park on a hill that was full of all kinds of strange, bizarre, and inappropriate sculptures. We also saw at least three kindergarten classes walking around the park and/or picnicing there, also. Probably the least strange sculpture was this one, which I happened to really like:

I have no idea what the significance of this statue is, but I thought it was lovely.

There was plenty of running around, waving hello to anyone who was not made of metal or stone, and chasing magpies to be had. TheFry has been up to his same old tricks, but with some new habits, as well.

He has started covering his face while laughing, which is pretty common here. Most of my students laugh this way.

However, there were no cherry trees in bloom as far as we saw along the road where the cherry blossom festival will be held this week. It's been just a little too cold the last few weeks probably. However, there were a few shrubs here or there who offered a little bit of hope.

We're going back on Saturday night after I get off of work. We'll probably take some snacks with us and mingle among the throngs of people who will likewise be enjoying the graceful loveliness of these flowers as well.

Happy Cherry Blossom Viewing Season, everyone!