Marching into Spring
After a long, cold winter, the peninsula is springing to life (see what I did there?) with festivals. Celebrate the returning warmth and colour and explore the area at the same time. Flower Festivals: The Cherry Blossom gets all the press, but don’t overlook these other beautiful trees! The first blossoms of the spring are the Apricot trees, and there are several Festivals being held in their honour: Jeju Hueree Maehwa (Apricot) Flower Festival is being held from Feb...
Read MoreTim Burton Exhibition at SeMA
By Deirdre Madden Most of us are familiar with Tim Burton through his work as a director of bizarre, macabre movies such as Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. His work, whether live action or stop-motion animation, has a dark, twisted touch to it that makes it easily recognizable, even before he seemed to start exclusively casting Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Dark, gothic, and often set in other realms, his animated work in particular tends to...
Read MoreWinter Festivals
By Deirdre Madden Don’t let the cold temperatures put you off exploring the countryside. Winter in Gangwando (the northernmost province on the east coast of South Korea) brings with it plenty of snow and ice festivals to help you make the most of the bright sunshine. Hot chocolate tastes even better when your cheeks are ruddy with cold and your toes are numb. Hwacheon Sancheoneo (Mountain Trout) Festival – Jan 5 – 27 Happening right now in the town...
Read MoreNovember Festivals
by Deirdre Madden Where I grew up, November was a very blah time of year. It was cold, dark and dreary for most of the month. Christmas was ages away, and Halloween was over with. There was nothing to look forward to in November, except possibly the first snowfall. My first November in Korea was such a contrast – bright, blue skies, warm days, fresh winds, autumn colours long after Canadian leaves had fallen. The weather invites you out...
Read MoreFall Festivals
By Deirdre Madden Fall is, without a doubt, my favourite season in Korea. The sweltering humidity of summer gives way to warm days and cool, clear nights, and generally, we have clear, blue skies and sunshine for days on end. It’s a great season for exploring the endless hiking trails around the peninsula, as the greenery fades to reds, yellows and browns. And it’s also the time of year for numerous festivals (though, really, when is it not festival season...
Read MoreShinwha Art Village
I’d passed it a hundred times or more, thinking it was just another old, scruffy neighborhood set along a hillside at the edge of the great industrial petrochemical complex. A few dozen traditional homes hidden from the passing traffic on the busy roads, camouflaged by a grove of trees and a few small garden-sized farms surrounding it, one could be excused for never noticing. But a closer look reveals a world within a world in which a visitor might feel just...
Read MoreUlsan Shipbuilding and Sea Festival
This weekend at Ilsan Beach, in Dong-gu, the city and HHI are holding their annual Shipbuilding and Sea Festival, which is basically a big party on the beach. Here is the list of events for the weekend, courtesy of FLIK magazine (HHI’s magazine for foreigner staff). Local bands ‘Stache Potatoes, Karaokey Dokey, and Ulsan Pinoy Band will be playing from 6pm on Saturday. You can also click the Facebook Event for information on joining Volleyball teams, and for the...
Read MoreSummer Festivals around Korea
By Deirdre Madden It’s hot. It’s humid. It’s muggy and steamy and sweltering. But your apartment is boring, and the tv shows you download are on hiatus until fall, so you might as well get out and explore the countryside. Relief from the heat can be found on the beaches, or in mountain streams, well away from the toxic sweat of the city. So head for the hills (or seashore) and check out these festivals all over the peninsula...
Read MoreCheong-do Wine Tunnel
By Steve Roberts Yesterday I went to the Gam Wine Tunnel, the world’s first persimmon wine-aging tunnel. This one is in the town of Cheong-Do, which is about 120 kilometers northwest from Ulsan. I went with a friend from work and his family in their car. We traveled for about 2 hours taking a very scenic trip through some of the mountains between here and Cheong-Do. My friend Chris and his wife wanted to stop for lunch before we...
Read More
The Beaches of Ulsan
By Deirdre Madden Beach culture in Korea is slightly different to what many of us are used to at home. Many Koreans only go to the beach during “swimming season” which is roughly the month of August. This month sees some beaches, like Haeundae in Busan, crammed to capacity with hundreds of thousands of people. You can rent sun-umbrellas, which are typically set up touching each other, so you can sit together with your friends in the shade along...
Read More