Mother Nature

I feel more grounded and in touch with nature in Korea. For one thing, the country is covered in small mountains carpeted with trees. Because the country has been around for awhile, the trees are pretty old and have a majesty that is somehow missing in Canada. And with the advent of spring, flowers are blooming everywhere you turn. It seems as though all Koreans have a garden of some sort, and most people grow their own lettuce (for beef in a leaf). Markets, restaurants and laundromats alike have plants and flowers growing outside their stores.

When it comes to the weather, it feels as though there is no mediocrity in the seasons. When it’s cold, it’s back-breakingly cold. Fingers freeze in seconds, and the inside of your nose sticks to itself from breathing. When it rains, it thunders down and woe to you if you’ve been caught outside without an umbrella. This is the first place I’ve been where galoshes are a mandatory accessory! When it’s hot and sunny, the air sticks to you like smoke in your hair after a night of all-night clubbing.

Sometimes you walk down an alleyway and catch the distinctive whiff of fresh squid or octopus for sale, a smell that transports you immediately to the sea, though it is miles away. Or round a corner and come upon a truck selling fruit in tune with mother nature, because once a season is over, that fruit is gone. From the markets and from the trucks. So far, we’ve been through kumquat, strawberry and orange melon season, and are now in the thick of watermelon season. But act fast, or the fruit will disappear. Either because the season is over, or because the truck has driven away!