Attack Of The Cherry Blossoms

4-18-2010
Day 42 of 365: During the first half of the 20th century, Japan invaded and conquered Korea as part of it's 35 year imperialist expansion. Korea was ruled by Japan until the end of World War II, when both Japan and Hitler's mustache were beat down by Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and Cuba Gooding Jr. During this time, Japan brought much of it's culture to Korea, including the mandatory teaching of the Japanese language in schools, walking on the left side of the street, and the import of the Cherry Blossom Tree.

The cultural significance of the 'Sakura' tree (as it's known in Japan) is too expansive for this blogger to even begin to recount. What I can tell you is that the Cherry Blossom is indigenous to East Asia, and there are over 200 varieties known to exist. What makes this tree special, aside from it's beauty, is that it only has a span of 1-2 weeks in full bloom, and then it's done for the year. This tiny window of opportunity, which is primarily between March and April, produces many festivals in China, Korea and Japan. I was fortunate this weekend to take part in the last festival of the year in Seoul. Many of the locals were worried that this year's unusually cold weather would affect the blooming of the Cherry Blossoms, but I think the only thing affected was the turn out of people to see them. It was chilly all day, but still very crowded, especially in the afternoon. Aside from tons of picture-taking, there were street-side artists, Korean mascots walking around to pose with, food vendors, and picnickers in the park. I'd met up with a group of newly-friended English teachers there, but since I hadn't brought my picnic basket, I took some pictures and bailed. We had other places to be...like COSTCO!!

There were many firsts for me this weekend: my first ride on the subway, my first trip to Seoul, my first time to haggle with a street vendor (I bought a smooth jacket for 4 bucks), aaaand...my first trip to Costco. As I followed my appointed tour guides, I knew we were getting close when I saw a guy walking the other way with an extra-large Kirkland's Brand (the Costco brand) pizza box in his hands. I'm happy to report that Costco is 95% the same on the other side of the pond, but it's even more crowded than the stores in the US. We had lunch at the food court, which has all the same favorites and they're just as cheap. I got my grub on with the standard hot dog + drink set, a bulgogi bake (Korean slant on the chicken bake) and a churro. As for the haul, I picked up some blueberry bagels, Special K with Red Berries, a 40-count bag of flour tortillas, a Costco-sized jar of Skippy peanut butter, and the score of the week: a two pound block of Kirkland Signature medium cheddar cheese. At this point you might be wondering what the big deal is, but these are all items I hadn't seen yet in Korea, so I'm pumped. An hour's ride home on the subway is a small price to pay for quesadillas.

And, since I don't know how else to fit them in, here are some final random tibdits of the week:

- I was told again this week that I look like Steve Jobs. I've never heard that from anybody in the states, but it's the second time somebody in Korea has compared me to the Mac genius. Kinda sucks, but I guess it's better than looking like Bill Gates.

- I signed autographs after class this week for my 3rd graders. I have no idea what brought it on, they just mobbed me out of nowhere (and no, it's not related to the Steve Jobs thing). Anyway, I started out with my full signature for the first few kids, but by the end, the last kids just got my rockstar signature.

-Mullets are cool here.