Over the past eight months I have spent my life living in a perpetual Spring. From the beaches of South America to the thaw of the Rocky Mountains, I have experienced the season of rebirth over and over again and learned a great deal from this blossoming season.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing throughout my time abroad was discussing the attitudes of the native people in relation to the world around them, much of which is affected by the climate in which they live. Throughout fall in the United States I was in Chile studying Spanish. In Vina del Mar, a beautiful Chilean port city, the weather begins to warm and the ocean begins to swell as the sun bakes the ground in the afternoons.
A bike rests on a dune along a Chilean beach.
In a literal paradise on earth I thought Chileans would take full advantage of the scenery surrounding them. I was shocked to discover not only was it difficult my friends to walk rather than jump on a collectivo, bus or metro but also I had to argue to get them to go to the beach and jump into the water.
“Spring in Vina del Mar is a sign of tourists crowding our streets,” a Chilean friend told me.
Although he may have had reason, I simply had to continue on disappointed in what we were missing by our time in the water.
When I returned back to the frozen Rocky Mountains in September the dry and bitter cold struck at my bones. The cold was refreshing and the mountains majestic. “I am home,” I thought to myself as I walked out of the Salt Lake City International Airport.
A small flower peeks through freshly-fallen snow.
Spring was not so apparent here, everything remained frozen. But as spring semester passes by, Spring reveals itself subtly to the keen eye. As the temperatures warmed the snow melted away and green flourished across Utah State University campus. Then, as is normal here, mother nature had her laugh and dumped another storm on top of us. But some were too determined to live than succumb to frost.
In a way the small details like these bring joy to living in the incredible place I call home in the Rockies. It is not every day that one can stop for only a minute to enjoy such a rare sight. It caught my eye and I still have no idea how it was never trampled.
In spirit of the arrival of the warmth to break the bitter cold, Spring Break sat upon me. I decided to take advantage of this week and travel to South Korea to visit a close friend living and teaching English as a second language to youth in Seoul. It was my first excursion to an Asian country and I enjoyed the challenge of being in a culture I knew next to nothing about.
I arrived eager to eat new foods, try new things, visit historical sights and share life with Josh. He worked every afternoon in a private English academy and left me to my own devices in this gigantic city. I decided to venture to a palace of historical significance in Seoul near a beautiful cathedral and was astounded by the history that lay within the walls of these buildings. Everything from art to graves of martyrs fell within the walls of these thousand year old structures.
A tree blooms in Seoul, Korea
But perhaps even greater than what was located inside the building was the trees I completely overlooked on my way in to escape the winds. It astonished me how I walk through these streets struggling to stay warm while these trees bloom from the sun above.
Koreans appreciate nature’s beauty and celebrate it in national festivals, celebrating the rebirth of their country from a dark winter.
I feel so privileged to have experienced these cultures in this time of the year. Spring has always been recognized as a time of change and opportunity. How lucky am I to have received this opportunity!
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