well, i guess im gunna eat my own words here cuz i actually DID go to yeouido later...
on wednesdays i dont have evening classes, so when i hung out with my friend alison on sunday, we decided to meet up again wednesday evening and check out the cherry blossoms in yeouido. unfortunately when i arrived, alison told me she couldnt make it, so i waited around for my friend sunyoung to arrive, busying myself with taking photos of young people enjoying the warm evening air. as it became twilight in 여의도공원 ('yeouido park'), the cherry blossoms glowed, really capturing the feeling of everyone lazying beneath their embrace.
[ex-girlfriend?]oh man this picture was so perfectly timed.
i think she was actually trying to kick the trunk of the tree so that the petals would fall while another friend was taking a picture. oops.
[a moment of childhood bliss - oh man, did i want some ice cream right then]
[king joseon surveys his domain]
yeouido is actually an island on the 한강 (han river) which runs through downtown seoul. according to the yeouido district website, this area was originally a pasture land for sheep and goats conveniently located near the capital during the Joseon dynasty. one year in the 16th century, the river flooded and only a small portion remained above water, which is why it is called yeouido, literally 'you can have it (useless)'. it was still just a sandbar until development began during the japanese occupation, and when president park junghee built a six lane bridge connecting it to the mainland in 1971, development proceeded rapidly. now it is a popular place, containing enormous parks, the national assembly building, the headquarters to LG, KBS, and MBC, and the notoriously immense 63 building.
we went down to the river for a bit to eat a couple of steaming bowls of instant ramen which really hit the spot! yum!
[a moment of childhood bliss - oh man, did i want some ice cream right then]
[king joseon surveys his domain]yeouido is actually an island on the 한강 (han river) which runs through downtown seoul. according to the yeouido district website, this area was originally a pasture land for sheep and goats conveniently located near the capital during the Joseon dynasty. one year in the 16th century, the river flooded and only a small portion remained above water, which is why it is called yeouido, literally 'you can have it (useless)'. it was still just a sandbar until development began during the japanese occupation, and when president park junghee built a six lane bridge connecting it to the mainland in 1971, development proceeded rapidly. now it is a popular place, containing enormous parks, the national assembly building, the headquarters to LG, KBS, and MBC, and the notoriously immense 63 building.
after a while sunyoung came and i found out that the cherry blossom viewing was not actually in yeouido park but along the han river park. whoops! so we made our way there, having just a little difficulty figuring out where exactly we were supposed to go. we discovered that day was the first day of the cherry blossom festival. at one point we heard fireworks and were spinning in circles to find them until we moved out of the shadow of the MBC building which was blocking our view. it became really too dark to take photos, but even more perplexing were the masses of people jostling us all the time. still it was breathable and we enjoyed our good fortune of having such a warm evening.
[a rather wary looking expression on my face]
we went down to the river for a bit to eat a couple of steaming bowls of instant ramen which really hit the spot! yum!
there were little huddles of people sitting just about anywhere on the ground, enjoying (of course) soju. by the time we went home, my feet were KILLING me (this was after a morning of teaching too) but i was glad i made it there at least once during cherry blossom season.
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