Russ and I celebrated 24 years of marriage on the 21st May.  The three of us went out for dinner to a local Chinese restaurant, which was VERY nice.  

We could just see Seoul Tower throught the haze

Last Friday, Pam and I joined Rekha Rao for a ferry trip on the Han River, which flows through Seoul.  Rekha's daughter, Rohini, is in our Korean language class, and Rekha was visiting for a week from the US.  The River cruise was a lovely thing to do.

Seoul Olympic stadium

This morning I went walking up in the hills near our apartment, and the transformation from when we first arrived (in winter) is remarkable.  Lush green foliage, birds and bugs - beautiful!!!

This was in the same area in February, when we first moved in!!

Roses are out and we've found a few on fences near apartments - it took me by surprise, but they look and smell perfect!!

Spring is certainly here, and we are enjoying the weather, the sights and sounds of Korea.

We are in the middle of week-long celebrations marking Buddha's Birthday, and we headed up to Seoul on Saturday evening to watch the "Lotus Lantern Parade".  This is held every year, and is an amazing parade to watch.  Many of the people in the parade hold a lantern, and it seems that different groups have different themes for their lanterns.  Most groups were from temples, but there were also some schools and other groups that didn't identify themselves in English, so we don't know.  Many people were wearing the traditional Korean Hanbok (clothing), and like all celebration parades, there was much laughter and enjoyment.

We met our friends, the Freemans, in Seoul, visited the lovely Tapgol park, where we saw a 10-storey, 12-metre high stone pagoda built in 1467, and enclosed by a glass case to protect it. It is classified as National Treasure no.2.

All over Korea, paper lanterns have been up for weeks!

Ted, Pam, Sam, Leanne, Alice and Russ

Leanne and Pam.  The stone pagoda is in the background, behind glass.

We found plastic chairs lining the street, ready for the parade. 

Here are some of the wonderful lanterns we saw. All of them are made out of paper, even the large ones!

May.... and Spring has finally arrived!!!  With temperatures now consistently in the 20s we are wearing short sleeves and have the apartment windows open.  It's lovely having fresh air through the place and hearing the sounds from around the area - teenagers playing basketball on the courts below us, families walking and talking and playing along the pathways, even the buses and workmen are great sounds that now fill our days.

Cherry blossoms were beautiful, but didn't last when a few windy, rainy days came.  We enjoyed them while they were here.

Now we are being absolutely spoilt with the colours that are coming out.  Around us there is a multitude of azaleas - Mum Parsons and Mum Reinke would be very impressed!!!! A great range of colours too!

 

 

Pansies fill pots everywhere!!!  There were minivans  and trucks that drove around, and about 12 people would jump out, plant the pots, jump back in the van and head off to the next set of pots - this must happen in every city right across the country.  It's very labour intensive, but worth it!!

The grounds in our apartment complex are really lovely too.

This is our building.

I've taken a few photos out our apartment window, and you may be interested in the change as time goes on.  It's lovely to watch!

February 2012

March 2012

May 2012