Sa Weol Kkot (April Flowers)

Although it wasn't a particularly nice day on Saturday, I thought I'd share some of the photos I took of the spring flowers that have started to bloom at the University of Ulsan (they fall far short of the quality of photos of flowers and fauna that my friend Jamie takes, but here they are anyway):

These are known as gaenarikkot (I'm not sure what the name is in English), and they are everywhere, a brilliant burst of yellow that creeps all over the sides of buildings and out of cracks and crevices here and there.

Here is the mogryeon flower (again, no idea what the English name is). The petals are gigantic and look a bit like a drinking goblet to me.

Finally the beotkkot, better known as cherry blossoms. At the end of March and the beginning of April, the south of the peninsula is awash in these small white flowers and many cities and towns have festivals in its honor. Last night, I went with my co-workers to Gyeongju (about an hour north of Ulsan, former capital of Korea during the Silla period and one of the most important cities to Korean history) to see the famous cherry blossoms there, and they were certainly magnificent, even at night illuminated by a full, clear moon. I will be returning to Gyeongju on Sunday for the start of the festival, so expect some more pictures from that excursion.