SEOUL Weekly: Yeongdeungpo Yeouido Spring Flower Festival

Yeongdeungpo Yeouido Spring Flower Festival
Don’t miss Seoul’s most famous cherry blossoms!



It’s April, which could mean only one thing – it’s cherry blossom season. And the place to celebrate this gift from nature is Yeouido’s Yeouiseo-ro Road, the venue of Seoul’s best-loved spring blossom festival. The road, lined by 1,400-1,600 cherry blossoms, becomes a beautiful tunnel of white and pink. At night, the blossoms are lit up with colored lights to create a stunning sight. What better way to spend a springtime evening with someone you love – or like/respect/begrudgingly tolerate – than by strolling beneath a canopy of beautiful pink cherry blossoms?

VENUE: Yeouido’s Yeouiseo-ro Road
PERIOD: Apr. 10–15
MORE INFO: T. 2670-3125
GETTING THERE: Five minute walk from Exit 1 or 6 of National Assembly Station, Line 9.
 

A miscellany of high-quality hyperlinks from the week, courtesy of SEOUL editor-in-chief Robert Koehler

• Is K-pop behind the spike in Americans studying Korean in college?
• Discussing the pros and cons of the K-beauty lifestyle.
• Boy, this meokbang thing has gone viral.
• The head of CICI says the Hallyu craze won’t end soon.
• Talking to the people who write the lyrics behind K-pop.
• The next couple of days are the time to see Seryangje Reservoir in Hwasun.
• Another year, another Seoul Motor Show.
• I guess this is the time to see green stuff in Jejudo’s Seongsan district.
• Bleeding hearts at Tongdosa Temple.
• Another week passes at Robert Koehler’s photo blog.

The Script Live in Seoul

The Script is an Irish pop-rock trio formed by vocalist/pianist Danny O’Donoghue, vocalist/guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power. The band debuted in 2008 with their eponymous album “The Script,” topping the U.K. album charts while their single “Breakeven” sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. alone. The band’s songs also have been featured in many popular TV shows, including “Ghost Whisperer,” “The Hills” and “The Vampire Diaries.” 

VENUE: Olympic Hall, Olympic Park
DATE: Apr. 15, 20:00
MORE INFO: T. 1544-1555, www.livenation.kr
ADMISSION: KRW 77,000-99,000
GETTING THERE: Olympic Park Station 올림픽공원역 (Line 5), Exit 3

YISS Spring Book Fair

Mark your calendar for the YISS Spring Book Fair from April 22 to 24 in the main lobby from 9:00 AM. to 5:00 PM.
YISS Book Fairs offer an extensive selection of quality English-language  books for young and adult readers at some of the best prices available in Korea. Most titles are 10% to 50% off retail prices.
Browse the wide selection of books for readers of all ages. Feel free to invite your family and friends. Ten percent of all sales during the Book Fair is donated to the YISS PTO to fund the purchase of new books for our school libraries as well as other learning resources.

VENUE: YISS Main Lobby
PERIOD: Apr. 22–24
MORE INFO: yisspto.bookfair@gmail.com, www.yisseoul.org
GETTING THERE: See this map.

MMCA Shuttle Bus

Some of you may know that the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) has three branches: its flagship branch in Gwacheon, a historic branch in Deoksugung Palace and the beautiful new campus next to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
What you may NOT know, however, is that the MMCA operates a shuttle bus that takes museum-goers on round-trip tours of all the MMCA’s locations. The service, which is free for museum visitors, departs four times a day (10 AM, noon, 2 PM and 4 PM) from in front of the MMCA Seoul (next to Gwanghwamun). Buses take you to the MMCA Deoksugung and MMCA Gwacheon before taking you back to the MMCA Seoul.

MORE INFO: T. 2188-6121 or see this link.

2015 Coffee Expo Seoul



Coffee lovers will want to check out Coffee Expo Seoul 2015, Korea’s premier coffee-related event. On display will be hundreds of varieties of premium coffees and teas from around the world, every coffee ingredient you can think of, the latest in coffee-making equipment and technology, lots of gourmet foods and and franchise and shop supplies.

Co-hosted with the Korean Coffee Association, the expo is an opportunity to see the entire Korean coffee industry under one roof. Over the last seven years, Korea’s coffee industry has exploded – Korea now ranks as the world’s 11th largest coffee market, and the country is home to over 12,300 coffee shops. What makes the Korean coffee industry particularly interesting is the emergence of new coffee tastes and trends particular to the country.

And don’t miss the World Super Barista Championship!

VENUE: COEX Hall 1
PERIOD: Apr. 9–12
MORE INFO: coffeeexposeoul.com
GETTING THERE: Samseong Station, Line 2

YEOL Lecture: An Ever-Evolving Image: Representing the Ideal Korean Woman in K-Pop

This will be a highly interactive presentation in which we will watch a number of music videos and together make observations about what we perceive is the underlying message being portrayed in the images we are presented, focusing primarily on the representations of “ideal” men and women. This topic has long been of interest for several reasons, including the dichotomy between what was once accepted on stage, but not in public; the portrayal of women on popular music television shows and later music videos; and the power of the production companies in Korea.

VENUE: Education room (1st floor), Seoul Museum of History
DATE: April 13, 11:30 AM to 1 PM
MORE INFO: T. 02-745-5878, info@yeol.org
ADMISSION: Free
GETTING THERE: Walk 600 m from Exit 4 of Seodaemun Station.

Ganghwa Island Shinmiyangyo Excursion

In the spring of 1871, five US warships entered Korean waters with the stated goal of securing a treaty for the safety of shipwrecked mariners. At the time, Korea still had very negative feelings from several bad interactions with Westerners in the five preceding years. Through cultural misunderstandings and the mishandling of the situation between the Korean and US governments, hostilities broke out. In the end, Korean forces reportedly lost more than three hundred troops, while the US lost only three. It was a so-called “weekend war” that changed the course of relations between the two countries, and continues to be a historic point of contention with many people on both sides.

VENUE: Ganghwado
DATE: Apr. 19
COST: KRW 60,000–72,000
MORE INFO: See this link.
GETTING THERE: See link above.
 

Cherry blossoms at Jeongdok Public Library, Bukchon. Photo by Robert Koehler.

Seoul Selection’s Free Book Giveaway – Our free book give-away continues! Check out the list in last week’s newsletter here. 

Seoul Selection Offline Bookshop Sale – One of the greatest repositories of Korea-related English-language books anywhere, Seoul Selection is offering a 10% sale on any and all books published by Seoul Selection purchased from our OFFLINE bookshop next to Gyeongbokgung Palace.
 
Looking for Translators – Seoul Selection is looking for a few good translators (Korean to English) for general translation work. Those interested should send a resume and cover letter to Kyehyun at atoz@seoulselection.com. Experienced translators only.
 
Seoul Selection eBooks – You can purchase some Seoul Selection titles in ebook format via Amazon.com (for Kindle) and Apple’s iBookstore. Titles include Ask a Korean Dude, Moon Tides, Doing Business in Korea, Once Around the Sun, and seven volumes of our Korean Film Directors series: BONG Joon-ho, IM Kwon-taek, KIM Jee-woon, LEE Chang-dong, LEE Man-hee, PARK Chan-wook, and SHIN Sang-ok.
 
Send Your Event Info – If you would like to advertise any upcoming events you are organizing, please send us the press release material at pubco@seoulselection.com by the preceding Friday in order for it to appear in the following Tuesday’s issue.

Freelance Contributors Wanted – SEOUL Magazine needs writers who are fluent in both Korean and English. Writers should have a strong interest in Korean culture and be able to interview Koreans. Send your resume and writing samples to english@seoulselection.com.

We Buy & Sell Used Books – Seoul Selection buys and sells used books in English. Unlike our regular selection of publications that specialize in Korea-related topics, our Used Book section carries books on all subjects. It’s all part of our effort to make life easier for the English-speaking community.