Cherry Blossom Festival

It's Saturday. The weather is a bit gray but I need to get out of my apartment. I've been feeling a bit down lately and am not sure exactly how to pinpoint the reason for my funk. Take action woman!

Hooray! A group is heading to the Cherry Blossom Festival on Yeouido Island (inside the city of Seoul). So I grab my camera and head for the subway.

Eight of us emerge from the subway station and first make a stop at National Assembly taking in the beautiful dome at the top of the building. We quickly grab some pictures and head for the lane that is lined with hundreds of cherry trees.

People are everywhere taking in the trees and contemporary art pieces that mostly contain real flowers. My favorite piece consists of pairs of jeans that have flowers planted inside them (check out the picture).

Along the lane, a Korean man stops me, asks where I'm from and says "this is the most beautiful place in the world." I wonder where he's been and yet marvel at how proud he is of where he's from. How many people in the world feel the same as he does? Do you feel the same about where you're from?

We continue our walk taking pictures and observing the scenery and all of the couples who are wearing matching outfits. It's a big deal here. If you're in a relationship, it's cool to be seen wearing matching shirts, coordinating pants and skirt - or sometimes the same pants and even the same shoes! Many couples exchange matching rings too.

A woman stops Meghan and asks to take a picture of her. She has no idea why. This happens here. If you're a foreigner, people will stop and stare and sometimes get right in your face just to have a look. We discover that the reason why she asked for a picture with Meghan is because of her porcelain skin and fiery red hair. The woman then decides she wants a picture with Meghan, Kelly, and I. Giggling takes place and we politely oblige. Only in Asia.

We continue walking down the pretty lane and near the end of the festival, I notice a tiny girl who is walking with her parents. She is so cute! I smile at her and wave. She smiles. Then her mother tells her to say hello in Korean and bow. "Annyeonghaseyo!" She takes an extreme bow and stays down for an extra second or two and comes back up. I giggle and do the same. She bows again. This goes on for a couple of minutes and the rest of the crew starts to take notice of the girl. She is adorable!

I wave goodbye to my new, tiny friend and decide it's time for me to head back to my place. Today has helped to lift the gray cloud surrounding my mood, but for some reason I'm still not back to me. Maybe I'm finally experiencing culture shock. Maybe I'm not. Maybe this is just me succumbing to the feelings that come with mediocre weather and a lack of exercise. Whatever this funk is, it feels like something that can't be resolved with one visit to a festival or a bag of peanut m&ms. Well, maybe a big bag of peanut m&ms would help...