Nau speak: Korea: Yangjae Citizen's Forest part one

After scoping out the adjacent Yangjae-River neighborhood park, I made my way to the Citizen's Forest park. I'm not entirely sure whether these two parks are their own distinct entities or complementary parts of one whole park, though I'd be likely to guess the latter. If any of you out there in internet-land reading this knows with more certainty than I, please let me know! As rare as it is, I can, on occasion, be mistaken. Shocking, I know. Horrifying, indeed. 😜 What can I say? I'm only human, after all...

Whatever the technical case may be, this (these?) parks are absolutely worth a visit! The citizen's forest has existed in Seoul for over 30 years now. One thing Seoul does well is utilize it's precious public spaces for maximum utility and benefit as well as aesthetically appealing design. Every neighborhood will have a public park or communal area, likely with exercise equipment. You can get a pretty epic work out just walking around the neighborhood and trying out whatever equipment you encounter, but if you feel more like going for a stroll the Citizen's Forest is an especially green and appealing area. There were squirrels! And so many different birds and butterflies! You can get snacks or even bring in booze and have a tipsy-picnic! Feel the breeze in your hair and chuck some popcorn at carp, sip some tea and let out a deep breath. Wave Hello! to the curious older gentleman watching you feed the fish. When the weather is this beautiful and the park this green, it's hard to be in a bad mood. It's hard to believe you're actually in the middle of the bustling capital of South Korea when you're sitting in the shade of a large tree watching squirrels scamper and tumble through the leaves.

I needed this.

They say that being in nature is good for you, and I believe it. Sometimes a girl just needs to get away from it all and sit in the grass, or take a long aimless walk without worrying about deadlines or distances. Just taking in the scenery. Just reminiscing over the photos is calming and I can almost feel the breeze tickling the little hairs on the back of my neck again... can you?