Two years ago, I checked out the Wonmisan Mountain Azalea Festival with some friends and it stands out as one of my favourite experiences of our first year in South Korea. I went again last year but we totally mis-timed it and all the flowers had shrivelled up. Heart-breaking! This year I was obsessed with timing it perfectly since it would be my last chance to see them. All my compulsive research paid off and we were awarded with rolling hills covered with the prettiest purple flowers. It was a purple cotton candy dreamland! I don't think the azalea festival is a major tourist attraction (we might have been the only foreigners there!) but I highly recommend checking it out, even if you're in Seoul!

I'm momentarily hijacking the Thailand posts to bring you these azalea festival photos. Because it's my blog. And my birthday. Wa-bam! (Also, I'm always telling my students not to start sentences with "and" or "but". Clearly I'm a good example).

So last night, a group of us headed out to Bucheon (a nearby city) to check out the azaleas. I went with no expectations and was absolutely flabbergasted. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? The azaleas even make the cherry blossoms seem a bit passé.

On a different note, my students are the best. They made me a flower crown (magnolia blossoms taped on to a leaf a student brought from home), a flower ring (which they ordered Mike to give to me on bended knee. He obviously complied) and threw random bits of flowers into the air and blew into noisemakers to wish me a happy birthday!