Spring time Sakura time

It’s official, spring is here! What have you done to celebrate it? Send your big coats to laundry? Have a pic-nick in the park? Pay a visit to Keukenhof garden? Yesterday, on my way to the station, I passed by the side of Museum Volkenkunde and much to my surprise and delight I saw the beautiful cherry trees blossoming in their full bloom!

I never noticed that they have cherry trees there, and a few of them too. As much of a big fan of Japanese culture as I am and that I spent a significant period of my life living in Japan and Korea, spring is all about sakura. There’s just something really magical about it. The mesmerizing beauty. The fleetingness of the moment. The tenderness yet melancholy feeling of a spring so late to come and so soon to leave.

Nonetheless, I didn’t get to see sakura trees in their peak season as much as I would want to. During my bachelor years in Korea, sakura time means midterms time. So as you finally finish dealing with all the exam stress, the flowers are gone. Like gone gone. It’s like everyday you go to school the flowers are still there and once day you wake up and there’s nothing left but a sea of pink petals under your feet. It’s sad and it’s beautiful.

That said, I really could not contain my excitement when I see the flowers waving at me on a gorgeous Sunday in Leiden. Before the other flowers making their presence, let’s enjoy a tranquil moment under the sakura trees and appreciate the transcending ephemerality of it. I hope you all have a beautiful week 🙂