My KOREAnization

My husband and I lived in Ilsan, Goyang City from June 2008 till January 2011. Goyang City is famous for the grandeur of Ilsan Lake Park. Our apartment was twenty meters away from the park and we saw to it that we made the most out of living next to it.

I walked around the park at least three times a week. Slow walking around the lake would take me an hour. Brisk walking would take me around 45 minutes. There are thousands of trees in the park but I came to grow fondness over a particular tree that has a T-shaped branch. I started calling him Teritree. Yes he is a male tree. He told me himself. I love the way his branches are spread like an umbrella. Every season, Teritree's leaves change colors. My husband took several pictures of me with Teritree over the years. Even after we moved out of Ilsan, I visit Teritree twice or thrice a year.

Whenever I passed by Teritree, I hugged his trunk. I complimented his masculine outspread branches.

I didn't know what kind of tree Teritree was until I saw beautiful pink cherry blossoms in the spring of 2009. The baby pink blossoms only lasted a week that spring because it rained. Sakura flowers are so popular because they bloom only for a few days. Seeing the fallen petals made me so regretful for not taking a lot of pictures with Teritree before the rain and the wind peeled the pink petals from his twigs.

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May 2017

Teri Tree is the first tree I ever loved. Among the thousands of trees in Ilsan Lake Park, this one caught my eye in 2008. It's been nine years since I named him My Teritree.

I haven't visited South Korea in five years. When I returned on April 26, 2017, I wanted to visit Teritree straight from the airport. But my husband and I were pretty tired so we visited Ilsan Lake Park the day after.

I was overwhelmed to see Teritree again. I last saw him in 2012. He has grown so much. He has more branches, leaves and his trunk is thicker.

If I have returned two weeks earlier, I could have seen Teritree's cherry blossoms.

I hugged Teritree. I spoke to him and told him how much I missed him. I posted pictures of HIM on Instagram and Facebook.

If you want to see more photos of my Teri Tree, please search #theteritree
#myteritree

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April 8th 2019

Sooo happy to be reunited with my Teritree.  I recently found out that this tree which I have loved since 2008 is a Weeping Shidare Sakura Tree; weeping of happiness and gratefulness that he lives in the beautiful Ilsan Lake Park. I have always known that he is a sakura tree but to know its actual variety makes me feel so good.

My first spring with Teritree was in 2009. He has been growing taller and wider every year. I expect him to grow taller and have a thicker bark in the next ten years. Trees take ages to grow and that's why I really get pissed when the branches get sawed off.

Spring 2024 My husband and I visited Teritree on April 1st, four days before undergoing another major surgery. My Teritree had pink shidare sakura blossoms. It wasn't a full bloom but around 60%. I asked Teritree to pray for my successful surgery so I can visit HIM again.