Ilsan Flower Festival

Last Tuesday was a holiday here in Korea - Children’s day in fact. And on this special day, I wanted to do something special. As I have mentioned so many times in this blog, most of Korea had exactly the same idea – and decided to travel to the same destination.

This unique spot was Ilsan (northern Seoul) where an international flower show was taking place. I’m not sure how long this festival had been running but I’m sure it was set up to coincide with Children’s Day.

Before arriving, I was expecting most of the exhibits to be outside – as the whole festival was happening inside a huge park. This was not so. Almost all the wildlife was pushed inside sweaty, crowded tents or buildings. It just reaffirmed my belief that Koreans love nature that is tame, clinical and refined to the utmost. Maybe I’m mistaken but I was slightly miffed how an entire international flower festival could take place mostly inside.

That said, there were some interesting exhibits – most notably the orchids. I was most impressed with these specimens as they seemed almost otherworldly. Not too far off from a science-fiction storybook. I was also impressed with the cactuses. I had no idea cactuses came in so many shapes, sizes and colours.

Probably one of the best parts of the day was relaxing in the park. It was truly beautiful as there was a lake (either man-made or natural) glimmering in the hot sun that made everything peaceful. It actually might have been better to skip the flower festival and spend time cruising around the lake. In fact, it’s common to rent bikes and peddle around but I wasn’t prepared to do that with 10, 000 children rocketing everywhere. It was children’s day after all, right?

Coming home, I felt satisfied. It was good to get out of the house. Yet, even though I’ve lived in this country for nearly three years, I still find the amount of people in this country overwhelming sometimes.

My time here in Korea is running up! Hopefully I can get a few posts in before I take off!

-Paul