Fall Colors Are Here - IL Gyeongsangnam-do Arboretum

 Another Tuesday, another outing. This fine fall day the International Ladies ventured to the Gyeongsangnam-do Arboretum in Jinju.

 I learned a few things about a couple of trees from a docent. This particular tree is a sweet gum tree. It is actually native to the US. The first chewing gum was made from the sweet gum tree. It was also used for soaps and medicinal purposes several hundred years ago.

The docent also told us about the cypress tree roots. When cypress trees grow near a water source and there is too much water in the ground, the roots grow above ground, sort of acting like a snorkel, helping the tree get oxygen. At least that's what I understood after the docent explained it in Korean and one of the ladies translated for us.

These bright yellow leaves are a ginkgo tree. Apparently the ginkgo tree was the only tree to survive the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, hence the nickname 'the bearer of hope.'

This tree kinda looks like a jackolope drinking from the water.

Deok Soon, Mimi, Victoria, Trish, Kate, Bongja, Mb, Kate, Chongok, Laetitia, Ann-Marie, Ming, Sofia, Leana, Jenny

I was in awe of the autumn colors so I kind of have a lot of pictures of leaves.

Yay for friends!

 Petrified wood; I have no idea how old this is, but it's really old and cool.

Mimi

Deok Soon

 They were making fun of our pants with holes.

 Lunch was in a little restaurant that had two types of tables. Some regular ones with chairs, and then a little area where you removed your shoes and sat on the floor. Our party was large enough we used one of each kind. I chose to sit with the Korean ladies on the floor.

Once again, a very traditional Korean meal of cheunguksa soup with lots of sides. Once again, I tried to eat as much as I could handle (which wasn't a lot), but yay for rice.

[November 5]