Autumn colors in Korea
Bits and pieces of the Korean culture
It was August and winter in Brisbane. The morning air was cool and sharp. Looking at the cloudless blue sky I thought it felt like autumn in Korea. But as I walked around my house in Sunnybank, it somehow seemed different from the Korean autumn. It was chilly and crisp after the sizzling summer heat, and I was wearing long sleeves. The bright sky above was serene all the same. Something, however, was missing. What could it be?
As I spotted the maple tree, tinted with brown and red, standing tall in front of a two-story house, I instantly knew the answer. The dead leaves the maple had shed were scattered here and there across the street; some had travelled as far as the end of the street.
Except for the maple tree I just saw, the streets seemed too green for it to be like an autumn in Korea. You can’t feel autumn the same way with so much verdant foliage. At the approach of autumn, avenues and boulevards in Korea are dyed brilliant yellow by the ginkgo lining each side. Mountains look spectacular as if they were aflame with reds, scarlets, browns, yellows, oranges and golds. The lush green of summer all turns into striking autumn colors.
In the autumn people inside gaze out of the window enthralled by the new colors the deciduous trees have changed into. Pedestrians slow down their walk to hear their tread on the fallen leaves and to enjoy the ones that float down into their path. Some squat down to collect dead leaves to press them dry in their favorite books. The fortunate glean ginkgo nuts which are a delicacy when roasted. And mountain hikes become popular during the weekends.
In Korea, we say autumn is the best season for reading and contemplation. As we watch leaves grow old, change color and drop off in autumn, we sense the limited life span of leaves and also of human beings. Life doesn’t last forever. We come to accept the glittering grey hair amid the darker ones and fine lines and wrinkles on our faces. It is just part of the whole process.
(From Bits and Pieces of the Korean Culture, 2000)
계절이 우리와 반대인 호주에 1년간 안식년으로 있으면서 쓴 글입니다.
