Jinhae Cherry Blossom estival

This past weekend we decided to make the hour trip north to the city of Jinhae, on the southern coastline, with our friends Mike and Alissa. The town is best known for the estimated 340,000 cherry blossom trees that bloom for only a few short weeks each spring. At the beginning of those weeks the city holds the annual Jinhae Gunhangjae Festival, this year marking the 49th year. in 1952 a statue of Korea's greatest naval hero was erected in the city's center, and since 1963, the festival has been held annually in honor of him. Each year these trees that are thought to be native to Korea attract over 1 million visitors. I apologize ahead of time for the overwhelming amount of photos that are sure to make you jealous.

Our first stop was to romance bridge. It spreads 1.5 km long with cherry blossom trees arching over the stream on both sides.

Our good friends Mike and Alissa who we went with

Jeremy loves making friends with the locals. The owner of a small snack cart that makes red bean pastries

Loads of photographers waiting for a train to arrive. They were about 2 hours early but that didn't stop them from sitting and waiting. Once they saw our group some turned and started taking photos of us instead.

Jeremy makes a new friend, another photographer waiting for the train with a birds eye view

Stairs to the observation tower. You can either climb the 365 stairs or pay to take a tram to the top. We chose the more strenuous version

The view was worth the climb. From the top you can see the entire city of Jinhae and all the cherry blossom trees that coat the mountains.

We were just excited to be done with all the stairs

There is also a market where you can find anything you would ever want. Even a fin to eat.

Shabu Shabu!!

I have found my favorite Korean meal! it's called Shabu Shabu. Basically they put a huge pot in the middle of the table and fill it with some sort of broth soup, they then add mixed veggies and let it cook. They then bring out raw meat and rice on lettuce. You swirl the meat in the broth and within seconds the meat is completely cooked. put it on the rice, dip in horseradish sauce and eat! At the end you can eat the veggies and broth as a soup. 

the plate of raw meat and rice

so much food!

Abandoned Theme Park

We went to Okpo and decided that we would try and find an abandoned amusement park that some friends told us about. Apparently it's a big attraction for local foreigners and high school students. Rumor has it that it was shut down some time ago because a little girl died on one of the rides. You can still see the cart hanging from the rail where she supposedly fell out. Others say that the owner simply ran out of money and it shut down...I like to think it was the first reason just to add a little more thrill.

While we were there a huge fire broke out on one of the ships in the shipyard. We heard sirens from every direction and very loud announcements being made

The ride that the girl supposedly died on

It felt a little like we were walking around the set of a horror film, very creepy and yet you want to keep walking and see more (makes me understand those girls in the movies that instead of leaving, like we all yell and the screen and tell her to do, keeps walking deeper into the house).

Finally

Well after months of planning, endless trips to the post office, a 14 hour flight across the pacific ocean and one lost bag, we have finally made it to South Korea! For those of you who don’t know, we are located on Geoje Island, off the southern tip of South Korea. The island is roughly 250 sq miles and has a population of around 220,000, our city being the largest on the island. It’s clearly smaller than Tulsa but with everything being so compact and the constant hussle and bussle on the streets, it definitely feels like we’re in a big city.

This is a picture taken from our hotel room which we stayed in for the first two weeks here. Everywhere you look in the city you can see mountains stretching along the horizon. We are now in our roomy apartment and will give a proper house tour soon!

We hope you’ll check back and follow us on our new adventure together!