Introduction

It's been three and a half months since I came to the United States.

My first impression of UCLA was that it was such an "exotic" place. As an international student who'd never been to the US before, different plants and trees in LA looked "exotic" to me. 

UCLA

by Suh Yeon Chung

Every time I looked around the campus, I discovered a bunch of plants that I'd never seen before, and discovering new plants and trees became one of my favorite things to do at UCLA. 

UCLA

by Suh Yeon Chung

UCLA Sage Hill

by Suh Yeon Chung

I'm really appreciative that I'm living here surrounded by such a variety of beautiful plants.

This blog is going to be all about introducing Mt. Halla in South Korea. Mt. Halla is one of the ecosystems that represents South-Korean vegetation type: temperate deciduous forest.

Because temperate deciduous forests do not exist in California, the mountain may look "exotic" to you. 

Mt. Halla

http://www.hallasan.go.kr/hallasan/bd.php?job=detail&ebcf_id=PHOTO2&page=3&artcat=&depart_names=&board_id=PHOTO2&write_method=common&neti_sess=&eb_seq=5100

Jeju island is located in the middle latitudes of the north-west pacific. As you can see in the map below, the island is in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. 

Map of South Korea

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/south-korea/

Mt. Halla is the center of the island (see Map of Jeju Island below).

Map of Jeju Island

http://grayceinparadise.blogspot.com/2010/08/jeju-in-summertime.html

The main goal of this blog is to help you have the similar appreciation that I had by showing pictures and providing information about Mt. Halla.

I'll come back again with fabulous facts about Mt. Halla. Thank you!

<References>

“Ecological Sciences for Sustainable Development – Jeju Island.” unesco.org,  January 2012. Web. 27 October. 2012.