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

A lot has been happening here in the past month.  Russell had a week in Vietnam in  March, and at the same time Alice had a week off for Spring Break. He is involved in a project there on the Mekong Delta, and enjoyed going from quite cold weather here to warm weather there......

Alice and I had a very quiet week here at home, venturing out to the movies, shopping and wandering, but generally just relaxing.

Bronwyn and Brett arrived on Wednesday 28th of March for 10 days of fun and frivolity!!! We visited the Korean Folk Village, Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Seoul,  the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), Quilt shops and museums, markets and restaurants.  Bron and Brett went down to Busan for a couple of nights and met us back in Seoul for a comedy percussion show - very Korean and a lot of fun!!! Easter isn't celebrated here, but thanks to Nan and Bron we had some fluffy chickens and chocolate rabbits and eggs.  Work and school continued as normal for Russ and Alice, and on Sunday we joined some friends to an English-speaking church service.

At Incheon Airport, with the sign we made to greet Bron and Brett

Alice with the new quilt Aunty Bron made and delivered!

Checking out our first coffee shop.

Brett explaining to me how to 'build a bridge'.....

Mr Toilet House - yep, you read that correctly!

At Insadong in Seoul - these guys sing while they cook.

Bron made time for a survey.......

Typical Korean restaurant meal.

At the Korean folk Village - a well-kept, interesting look at Korea in days gone by.

A traditional Korean wedding  - we wondered if this one was a real wedding...

Near the entrance to "Cookin' Nanta", a funny percussion show that had food flying all over the place.  If you're interested, check it out on http://nanta.i-pmc.co.kr/Nanta/en/Multimedia/MultimediaMain.aspx

                               

                                         Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon

Brett having a cuppa with his new best friend....

Bronwyn's birthday - lots of fun!

The Happy Quilt - you wouldn't believe how much money we saved....

At the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ - that's 'Zee', not 'Zed').

Right on the border of South and North Korea - the building in the background is in North Korea, and had a guard there watching us all the time (with binoculars!).  And we had 4 guards near the blue buildings (and 2 more behind us) as protection - they were VERY strict about what we could and couldn't do.  This is a very interesting and sobering experience.  One of the ladies on the bus tour with us was born and schooled in Pyongyang, escaped with her father (leaving her mother and sister behind) and has lived for many years in the US - she told me that she just feels such a great sadness for North Korea.  A very brave thing for her to go to the DMZ.

The train station at Dorasan - not used much and only by trains coming from South Korea, but it's ready to go when North Korea are ready.  One day, the plan is to join Korea up with Europe by train.

So.... Brett and Bronwyn have moved on to the US, and we are back to normal.....  well, Russ is having a few days in Australia with his Mum and Dad and Alice and I are enjoying the slightly warmer temperatures here.  It's wonderful seeing the buds on trees and blossom starting to come out!  The grass is even starting to green up.