Spring Comes to Songdo

Spring comes to Songdo slowly, but surely. Everywhere else I have lived springs comes in fits and starts–up to 70 degrees on one day, back down to 35 the next. As I write this blog at the end of April, it just snowed in Chicago.

Not in Songdo. A line charting the daily temperature here since we arrived would be pretty much the same as a line charting the average temperature. This 10-day forecast is typical.

Because Korea seems to have no anticipatory tastes of spring, and because it’s a bit cooler here than in Virginia, it felt to me like spring was a long time coming.  But, as in Virginia, spring in Sondgo does come with cherry blossoms, which bloomed here in early April. We missed the major spot for viewing cherry blossoms in Seoul–Yeouido Park–but instead went to view a display in Incheon, on the grounds of, of all things, a petrochemical plant, SK Energy.

The plant has a large campus with many cherry trees. Mason Korea sponsored the trip–one of our faculty was formerly an executive in the company.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We took advantage of the nice weather as well to explore the other big mall in Songdo, which is outdoors rather than indoor. It’s called Canal Walk because it goes for four blocks on two sides of a canal. Each block has its own fanciful theme, including some fake animals to take pictures with, or fake business people going to work. Our favorite sight though, were the bubbles that little kids rode in along the canal.

• 

• 

• 

• 

This month I also got my “Korea bike” and took my first longer ride. This is the first bicycle I’ve purchased since 1981. It feels very modern to me (lighter frame, shifters in the break levers) and, actually, it fits me better than my bike back home. My longer ride was along another canal that forms one border of Songdo, and then across an approximately 8-mile seawall to an island linked to the mainland by the seawall (the Korean coast is dotted with many islands). While all the biking I’ve done so far has been in fairly densely populated areas, almost every major street in Incheon, where Songdo is located, and especially in Songdo, has a bike path along the road.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Teresa bought a bike as well, and we’ve taken a couple of rides through Songdo together. She really likes that there are not only lots of bike paths in Songdo, but also that most are separated from the street. She doesn’t like all the stopping and starting for traffic lights though. Neither do I.

 

The number of celebrations has also picked up in the spring. Most notable was Mason Day Korea, a mirror celebration to the traditional spring festival day at George Mason in Fairfax. More mirroring: the weather was bad in both Fairfax and Sondgo for Mason day this year. Our students still came out for it, however, and it turns out some of them are accomplished K-pop dancers. (They are almost all K-pop enthusiasts.)

 

This spring was also a time of fancy receptions.  I had one at the house of the US Ambassador to Korea.  The house is beautifully built in the Korea style. As you can see, I dressed fancy for the occasion.  Earlier in the day, by coincidence, a group of ambassadors to Korea visited our campus.  We had a reception for them.  Among others, I chatted with the Afghani ambassador to Korea about Afghani restaurants we liked in Northern Virginia!  Another fancy occasion was an Ex-pat Women’s Global Leadership conference co-sponsored by Mason Korea.  At the dinner after the symposium we sat next to a Nigerian princess, the wife of the Nigerian ambassador to Korea, and the president of Proctor Gamble – Korea. 

Of course, we continue to enjoy Korean food no matter what the season.  We discovered a new barbecue style—northern Chinese, I think—that involved beef and lamb on skewers.  It’s been our favorite so far.

We hope everyone is having a great spring, and close with one last set of spring pictures: George Mason Korea’s campus in bloom.