Starting with election season.
School elections first.
March is also the time when flowers start to bloom here in The Big Big City, the earliest barbinger being the kenari, or golden bell, below the first blooms and then in full bloom:
But the cherry blossoms are probably everyone's favorites:
Next Wednesday is a major by-election, particularly for mayor of Seoul--the previous mayor, Park Won-soon, seoul's longest-serving mayor, committed suicide last July in a sexual harrassment scandal. The dozen or so mayor candidates are identified by number according to party, and use a few means of feet-on-the-ground canvassing:
Same intersection, different days:
You see, and mainly hear, a lot of these, too. Trucks with giant video screens and several volunteers singing and dancing while loudspeakers blare--at my intersection from 7 AM to 8 PM, non-stop:
Big, beautiful magnolia blossoms:
And, as April arrives, the azaleas are just beginning to show off:
