South Korea is a country of drastic seasonal changes and they are very proud of this characteristic. One of the most common points of pride for Koreans is that this small nation has 4 distinct seasons. We hear about Korea’s four seasons from students ad nauseum, but for one spectacular season, Spring, Korea’s changing weather is of particular note.
Living in Yeosu, we experience a very temperate version of Korean weather. Our summers are cooler than those experienced by the rest of the country, and our winters are far more mild.The two constants of Korean seasons, however, is in the Spring and Autumn. Even in Yeosu, the plants put on a flourish at the beginning and end of the growing season. Stephanie and I disagree on things from time to time, and Fall vs. Spring is one of them. I absolutely love Korea’s plethora of mountains with changing fall colors, whereas Stephanie gets excited for Spring flowers like a 5 year old given a puppy. The puppy is a Corgie…that kind of excitement.
My relationship with Spring is a strained one, as I have always had horrible allergies and have a certain level of disdain for the pollination that terrorizes my sinuses each year. I will agree with Stephanie, though, on how absolutely beautiful Korea is in the Spring. While Yeosu doesn’t have the harsh extremes of Summer and Winter, the flowers, camellias, magnolias, and maehwa trees (plum trees) are beautiful. However, the most pronounced, the cherry blossom trees, are simply mesmerizing. They bloom for only a short period of time before ushering in Korea’s last “snowfall” of petals.
The cherry blossoms here in Yeosu are different than the ones we witnessed last year in Seoul. During mid summer they actually produce tiny cherries which are bitter, but totally edible, if you can get over your mouth turning bright purple. The petals are also pinker than the snow white blossoms further north and seem dreamlike due to the sheer quantity that are in our city.
Allergic reactions aside, Spring is a beautiful time to be in or visit Korea and we are very grateful that the temperate nature of Yeosu still puts on a colorful show ever year for the bloom.
Hedgers Abroad 
The petals ARE much pinker! I was so surprised to see your photos because I’ve been observing cherry blossoms all week but haven’t seen any as pink as in your photos! They’re beautiful! 🙂
Where did you see the cherry blossoms? The ones here in Yeosu are a slightly different tree than the ones further north.
Seoul, the Southern part. Mostly along the Yangjae river. Our streets here were lined with cherry blossoms but none as pink as the ones on your post, although maybe it’s because as you say it’s a slightly different tree.
That’s where we saw them last year too. They are white. The ones here actually produce cherries in June!
That’s just awesome! Have you actually tried the cherries?
Yes they are really sweet, almost bitter and turn your mouth bright purple. There are a lot of cherries at my school in the summer and so many of the students eat them and have bright purple mouths all day long haha.
That is so cute! Imagine having a class photo of little kids with bright purple mouths! Hahaha awesome!
Nice collection of photos you’ve got there. I’m sad to see the cherry blossoms go:( Thankfully, we’ve got memories like these to remember them by. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! We were sad to see them fading as well but now everything seems to be turning green and other flowers are starting to bloom. Excited to have summer just around the corner!