Cherry Blossom Season!

On a recent, leisurely Saturday afternoon, spring suddenly arrived.

Granted, I'd have preferred her late entrance to be a bit more flamboyant, but I was still happy to congregate in Yeouido with four girlfriends.

I've been not-so-patiently anticipating warmer weather since, um, February, so the sight of flowers, the Han river and tandem bikes resolved my spring fever.

Yeouido's cherry blossom festival is where Seoul's couples flock to take pictures under the canopy of blossoms on the three-lined street leading to the river. In Korea, girls with blossoms in their hair symbolize craziness, a rumor we all confirmed this weekend. Spring is here and I couldn't be happier (see balloon).

My Chingu Janelle

For many teachers abroad, the six-month mark is a time of emotional vomit. Miscommunication isn't funny anymore, the food is weird and people still haven't realized that you have a space bubble ("You didn't see me standing here or do you think you can walk through people?").

Yes, it was an emotional time, mostly because I miss people back home and I'm already dreading my goodbye with my wonderful friends here. But my fears of goodbyes were shelved with my occupation of a big HELLO to Janelle Jenison, a treasured friend (chingu), who's come to teach English, too!


Besides being a remarkable harmonica player, Janelle is a proud member of the Decadox, the house we lived in with 10 girls our senior year at Biola in California. I'm so excited about her being here and all the memories we'll make in Asia together. Welcome to Korea, Janelle!

Spotted: First iPad in Korea

It's refined, sleek and chic. It's also the talk of the tech world, for both dubious critics and drooling early adopters. It's a genius (cameraless) cross between a laptop and iPhone, but will people really buy the iPad? This guy did and he claims to be the first iPad user in Korea! I ran into him with my Korean journalist friend, Jenn, in a coffee shop in downtown Seoul. She recognized him from an interview she did for her paper, Chosun, about the iPad. The UC Irvine econ student got it just two or three days after the April 3 American release date, and let us hold it and make a scene checking it out. Whether he's really the first Korean with an iPad is up for debate, but I liked how online articles looked on the shiny touchscreen.

Ondol Motel

In Korea, ondol-style heated floors has become a luxury I've thoroughly enjoyed. The Bronze Age tradition started in North Korea and continues now in restaurants, my apartment and motel rooms like the one I shared with my friend Carol on our Gyeongju trip. Many Koreans still sleep and eat on the floor, so it makes perfect sense that it's heated. (Gas or electric heat replace firewood, rice patty straw and dung for heat fuel now)

Carol and I lucked out, as this room is designed for four people. As you can see, it's pretty low maintenance for the motel owners, as we just spread out our provided bedding on the floor as needed.

Homemade Tofu

One of the pleasant surprises of my Gyeongju trip was discovering this man making a tub of tofu. My friends and I found him in a room adjacent to a small Korean eatery along our bike route. A stop for lunch also gave us a peek into the warm steamy room where the magic happens. The sweet smell and white color of the soymilk reminded me of a milkroom, set off a Pennsylvania dairy barn, back home. Tofu is made by coagulating soymilk with salts like calcium sulphate or magnesium chloride, at least that's what do-it-yourself sites say, as this gentleman didn't speak English.

Gyeongju Bike Trip

I went south -- to Gyeongju, Korea's ancient seat of government -- in search of adventure, history and cherry blossoms. All was accomplished except the later, which was replaced with an unmistakably saddle-sore bum that only 10 hours on a bike can award. The 4.5-hour bus ride to the coastal city gifted my friends and me with blue skies, sunshine and open space, a welcome antithesis from Seoul's gray, crowded streets. We threaded through Gyeongu's rural neighborhoods and rice fields, enjoying the Easter weekend and company. I didn't realize how much I missed the smell of fresh earth and cow dung until we found some farms, too.

Gyeongju means, "congratulatory district" and is one of the biggest tourism sites in South Korea with several UNESCO heritage sites. In the Silla and Unified Silla periods, the city was the center of court and cultural life through the end of the ninth century. After that time, the area was pounded multiple times by the Mongols and Japanese -- but that's the basic idea of all Korean history.

Below us in front of a famous astronomy tower.