Beartree Park

I'm behind, I'm behind! I forgot to post about our field trip to Beartree Park on April 9th which was a truly wonderful place to visit. Beartree Park is located near Yeongi which is to the West of Cheongju. The park was a private arboretum for many years, apparently, but it recently opened to the public in 2009. According to our director the owner is quite old now, but he's grown quite the legacy with this park. It's gorgeous. I only wish that we had been able to see more of it and that we could have made it when it was even more lush and green.

Here's a handy dandy map of Beartree Park. It's pretty big though and we didn't get to see nearly as much as I would have liked. It was a bit breezy and cool though too.

This bus was parked right outside of the park. The signage made me laugh a little. 

Flags in the parking lot near the entrance of the park.

This is the first thing you see at the entrance to the park after you walk inside the gates. The trees are lovely and there are petrified pieces of wood everywhere. Pretty neat.

But then you take a left and you see loveliness! The pansies were definitely enjoying the nice, cool weather. In the picture above there is also a pond straight ahead. 

Who doesn't love pansies? They were one of few things in bloom during our visit.

Here is the aforementioned pond. It was lovely and at first glance I saw a few koi, but not many. Once you approach the edge, however, they were everywhere. They also like to gather near the bridge because you can purchase food and feed them when the weather gets warmer and koi certainly like food.

After dropping of everyone's backpacks we started our walk toward the more animal oriented part of the park. This scenic view was along the way.

Kimchi! We gathered around this bear statue for a group picture. The bear statue is rather anatomically correct, I might add. From left to right: Daniel 2, Chloe, Sarah, Jun (in teal in front), Julia, John, Tomas, Evelyn, Michael, Brian, and James. 

Hey, you can't say I didn't warn you. 

Onward, we continued our trek! To wherever we were going. Our director likes to tell us to go somewhere, but she doesn't tell us where to go or where we're going. So we walk and then she finally takes over and we follow like meek little foreigners. It makes things easier for everyone.

Finally, all the little sets of legs and 4 pairs of big ones, make it to our goal. We have found the small animal sanctuary! 

Why yes, those are baby bears. Aren't they too cute?

There were also a variety of birds, the above guinea pigs (why guinea pigs, Korea? I don't understand), rabbits, some dogs (including a beagle), some cats, and probably a few things I'm forgetting.

We also passed by this lovely fellow on the way to our next location. He was so brilliant.

Veering away from the array of animals we passed some reindeer, this pond, and more trees. 

Beartree Park has some fantastic views. 

Up near the top there is a small tower where you can go up and observe. Korea really is beautiful with all the mountains.  I'm sure it's even more gorgeous when things are green.

After a little chaos with kids running down the path all willy nilly, our director reigned them in and had them make a line to go back down the hill. We passed some ajummas and one of them decided to join the train of children not only walking, but saying "chi chi po po, chi chi po po" which is the Korean version of "chugga chugga choo choo" that we would do. Super cute. I also love the expression on the ajumma's face.

Hey, did you know that the Korean sound for teeth brushing is "chica chica"? The more you know. :)

Finally we got to the very bear part of the park. It was sad to see so many bears with so little space. You could purchase walnut cakes (호두과자) to throw to the bears which were very eager for a snack. 

I caught this bear mid-catch! You go bear, you got the skills. 

Oh hey, I bet you've never seen one of these before. Or recognize that logo. 

Finally, it was time for a lunch of kimbap and a variety of snacks. We returned to where the backpacks were and ate, then the kids had a quick race or two before we went back to the van to head to school. They're off! Even Chloe is mid jump in the picture.

And here they come! Zach joined the second race and everyone enjoyed it. John, the little guy in front won. He may be small, but he sure is fast!

Go Zach teacher! Go Chef (commonly called "chepu") teacher!

Chef teacher and the littlest of little people. Two of my favorite kiddos, Sarah and Jun.

We found... koi! We made a final visit to the pond before heading back to the school. 

Here we kept feet on the bridge and kiddos out of the water. But not before Evelyn dropped her face mask next to the bridge and almost into the water. 

Finally, it was time to head back to the school. Everyone was worn out and some of the kids fell asleep. Then it was class as usual. All in all, a good day at Beartree Park. These spring fieldtrips are pretty fun. We even went on another one which I will post about once the school pictures are up for me to add to my own albums. April birthday party post is to come as well!