Spring in Busan

Although it's still pretty cold, spring has finally began to show itself around here. Yesterday, the teachers went to the cherry blossom festival, and since I mentioned that I was not allowed to attend, I decided to find my own cherry trees. While the Koreans celebrate the cherry blossoms blooming each year, they were brought over by the Japanese during their attempted take over of Korea in the early 20th century. Needless to say there are still a lot of older Koreans who are not particularly fond of the Japanese. Koreans call those days the Japanese Imperial Period or 일제 강점기 in Korean. It translates into Japanese "forced occupation." The cherry blossom is the national flower of Japan and is called "sakura". The pictures below are of a street aptly named, "cherry blossom road" but in Hangul (Korean). The street is in my neighborhood and is a short walk from my apartment. Enjoy!