Part 2 of my “journey back in time” to Seoul: Nature.
For one week in April, all of Korea seems to be in a sort of state of emergency – in the most positive sense. Daily trips to famous landmarks, thousands of photo shoots, and a million social media posts. Japan is known for them world wide, but in Korea they are also an important part of culture: cherry blossoms. For about one week, trees blossom all over the country to create a beautiful natural spectacle – even on campus. Seoul is transformed into a spring wonderland more or less over night that can only be marvelled at. At the same time, this week forms a sort of transition to summer.
Towards the end of this cherry blossom week I took a day trip to Namwon (남원) with some friends. The city is about 250km South of Seoul and is known in Korea as the “city of love”. We were told that it is one of the most beautiful places in the country to experience the cherry blossoms, but unfortunately we were a bit late since most trees had already stopped blooming. Since Namwon is so much further South than Seoul and since it gets warmer there a bit earlier in spring, we didn’t think to take into account the fact that the cherry blossom week would start (and therefore end) earlier than in Seoul. Still, we were able to enjoy the last cherry blossoms at a few places in the city.
However, one interesting curiosity came to my attention several times during this week: I was told repeatedly by Korean friends that the German city of Bonn was known all over Korea for its stunning cherry blossoms, and that many Koreans plan their trips to Germany or Europe accordingly so that they are able to witness them first hand. And again we realize that we live in a place where others go for on vacation. #traveldestinationgermany
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