펄씨하고 은행나무

펄씨 was recently at Kyunghee University attending its 3 weeks Korean language programme. In her daily e-mail to us, her fascination with the gingko (은행-銀杏) trees, which lined the road towards Kyunghee, caught our imagination. Below are the excerpts of her e-mails.

"In my morning walk, I have been watching the two rows of trees planted on the way to Kyunghee University. If I am not wrong, they are gingko trees. I love to eat gingko and will eat it especially during exams as I was told that it helps in memory. Perhaps, that was why I did rather well in my past exams. So I enjoyed looking at gingko trees and just wondered whether I can see the fruits . . . . ."


"Have observed the trees by the sides of the road to Kyunghee today and saw a lot of fruits like green grapes on the trees. Now, I am wondering whether those are really gingko trees. I thought their leaves looked like those gingko trees I saw in China . . . . ."

"After last night's encounter, thought I need some energiser. My Dowoomi confirmed that those trees leading to Kyunghee are indeed gingko trees. Wow, so many gingkoes on the trees and I am wondering when they will drop for me to gather some . . . . ."

"One stretch of the ginkgo trees leading to Kyunghee had their branches chopped off as they were doing some drainage or sewerage work. Where did the gingko trees disappeared to?"

"I had unravelled the mystery of the gingko nut today. Had been wondering why the fruit of the gingko is soft while those we bought had a hard shell till I saw a lady gathering the riped gingko which turns orange when ripen. The lady then removed the outer 'flesh' and then the nut is exposed. So the nut is inside the flesh. Wow, so easy to gather gingko nuts. Next time I see the gingko fruit ripened and dropped to the floor, I will gather them and keep the nuts as there are so many of these trees almost everywhere."

Living a simple life is a pleasure and to be fascinated with simple things in life is happiness. That is why I thought it would be nice to share a simple joy of my friend.