It is cherry blossom time in South Korea. It seemed like I woke up one morning and all of the trees were filled with the blooms. We have quite a few cherry trees in Okpo and you can look on the surrounding mountains and see a cherry tree blooming here and there.
On Saturday, I went with another couple (Ken is still in Houston) to
Jinhae for the
Jinhae Gunhang (Cherry Blossom) Festival. We actually were in a group from Brenda and Norman's apartment building. A bus picked us up and took us to the Car Ferry Terminal. We then had an hour ride to Jinhae, where we took a local bus to the festival site.
The Festival goes on from March 23rd to April 8th and of course we seemed to pick a day full of drizzle. When we first got on the ferry I think we were starting to wonder why we had decided to do this. There was limited seating in the main cabin area (it was like an oven in there to boot) and we ended up standing for most of the trip in a stairwell. If it wasn't raining, standing outside might have been nice. Anyway, we were all on our own for the day. They supplied us with a map, a schedule and a raincoat. I think that the rain put a damper on alot of the activities that would have been going on.
The square had lighting, bleachers and stages in different areas. So we mainly wandered around the various booths and shopped most of the morning. The streets leading out of the square all had cherry blossom trees along either side.
I think on a prettier day we could have enjoyed them alot more. But it definitely was pretty. I will return next year on a nicer day hopefully.
The stalls had the usual festival assortment of junk and food. There seemed to be alot of pigs being roasted.
I think you can get the idea from the picture. Another interesting roasting item were plates of some sort of small birds. I didn't take a picture because it disturbed me but I wish now that I had. They seemed to have been cooked whole (meaning the head was still on) and were arranged on plates in sort of a sitting position. I didn't sample. There was also the usual array of seafood and big pots of various things boiling.
We elected to go to McDonald's for lunch, as did most of our group. While we were finishing up a group of Korean schoolgirls walked in and saw us. I don't think I have mentioned this before but it is common to walk around and have young children say hello to you. Sometimes they know a few more words and will ask where are you from but usually it is hello. Anyway, this group of girls seemed enthralled with us and started talking and laughing. They mostly seemed interested in Brenda's Oreo McFlurry.
I did have fun shopping - I bought a couple of items but my favorite was my wooden bull. We found a booth that had beautiful wooden furniture. The artist that made the furniture was actually at the booth - there was a Korean magazine with an article about him setting on a table. I have collected cows (why? I really don't remember why)off and on for years. When I was in Shanghai, I bought a wooden bull there also. So I guess my cows from Asia will be bulls instead of cows. Anyway, this bull was quite big and heavy. I am eternally grateful for Norman - he carried it for me.
It cleared up late in the afternoon and they started setting up some stages for singers and such. However, we had to leave in order to catch the 5:30 ferry. This time we were fortunate enough to get seats. I was exhausted when I got home but it was definitely a great time.
