This was a pretty productive weekend. Tyler, Tia’s boy, is in town so we’ve been going out and doing some site seeing. On Friday night we went up to Hongdae, went bar hopping and stayed at a hostel for the night so we could wake up in Seoul. The hostel we stayed in was really nice! Katie was really nervous to stay in a hostel. I think the name “hostel” got to her, but she was pleasantly surprised. All of the amenities were really nice and the women running the place spoke in perfect English! We had lockers and plenty of room to get ready. In the morning there was coffee, toast and tea for us. We all congregated in the main lobby to eat and chat. There was a small group of university students staying there too. They were from Slovenia, Latvia, Holland and Estonia. I played it cool, but for some nerdy reason I get really excited when I meet people from Europe. I find Europeans interesting, makes me wish I were in Europe and really excited to go back!
The main plan of the day was to go to Seoul Tower, a communication and observation tower on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul. It is 777 feet tall, and although it isn’t a very high tower, since it is located on top of a mountain, it provides an outstanding view of all of Seoul. Looking out at all of Seoul reminds me of how enormous this city is!! It’s a lot of concrete buildings and rivers, much like any other large metropolitan city, but I don't get sick of seeing it. We walked around for a long time, and even had the pleasure of watching a traditional Korean samurai show. Men dressed in samurai attire where grunting, stabbing and swinging their swords in unison, slicing sheaf’s of wheat with every swipe- like something in Disney’s Mulan. I was standing there watching this, having one of those rare moments where I can’t believe I am seeing this with my own eyes. I have never in my life thought I would witness something like this, or even had interest in doing so, but I was certainly neat to see. We rode the Namsan cable car down the tower, which gave more interesting perspectives of the city. Going to Seoul tower and taking the cable car ride wasn't the most spectacular thing I’ve done in my life, but I had a good time and took some great pictures anyhow.
Tia, Tyler and Katie were exhausted from the long night, little sleep and a day of walking, so after the tower they went back to Dongtan. Andy, Amy and I decided to go check out the Lotus Lantern Festival to meet up with some friends. We made the right choice! The festival was awesome!!!
THE LANTERN FESTIVAL:
The lantern festival takes place on the first day of the week long celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. The opening day always starts with religious ceremonies in the morning and is followed by a large street fair near the temple. The street fair was filled with pedestrians shopping for Buddhism-related items and Korean traditional crafts, participating in one of the art and crafts making booths that lined the streets. At the booths you could learn how to make your own mask, lantern or Buddhist rosaries. I really wanted to make a mask, but we were too tired from the night before to do any arts and craft. Instead we decided to walk around, people watch and watch a few traditional song and dance shows.
Something that I found interesting and appreciate about this holiday is that it is not only for the religious Buddhist community, but also way for believers to educated non-believers. . Many events surrounding the festivities serve to explain and demonstrate the religion, its practices and even give glimpses into the daily lives of the monks. Amy, Andy and I walked passed an area where monks were offering for pedestrians to join them in a 3-minute meditation session. I’ve always been interested in meditation and the Buddhist religion since I did a project on the religion in high school, so I jumped at the opportunity to meditate with real monks. How cool! Right!?! Amy decided to join me as we listened to the bald, woman monks share the importance and purpose of practicing meditation. To sum, she said that mediation is crucial in order for you to find your center and happiness in the midst of all of the ciaos of our everyday lives. She has a point. During the 3 minutes of silence I was able to down out the sound of the crowd behind me and truly have peace of mind. It was incredible. Hopefully I will try to meditate more often. Starting in 2004, Buddhists from countries such as Taiwan, India, Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Mongolia began participating in Seoul’s celebration to bring an international spirit to the celebration, however, I only checked out the Korean Buddhists.
Although walking through the street fair was interesting, the best part of the festival was definitely the parade!!! Thousands of people gathered early to get the good seats (we were there about 3 hours early) at Dongdaemun gate- this is the original East Gate of Seould when there was a wall around the city. The parade went on for miles through the heart of Seoul and ended at the Jogyesa Temple. I think the best part of this festival begins in the evening of the first day. Starting in early evening, thousands of people congregate at Dongdaemun Gate (the original East Gate of Seoul when there was a wall around the city) to join in the Lantern Parade. The parade will stretch for several kilometers through the heart of Seoul to culminate at the Jogyesa Temple (this temple is spectacular, but more about that later). The parade started when it started to get dark outside, so we could truly appreciate the beauty of the lanterns. The parade consisted of a river of dancers and lantern carriers wearing traditional Korea attire, huge dragons, lotus flowers, white elephants, kings, rabbits and tiger lanterns made up of hanji- traditional dyed Korean rice paper- lit up the streets. I read later that these lanterns represent long life, health and good harvest. The parade went on for about 30 minutes with floods of Korean monks and nuns holding lanterns, men dressed in brightly colored hanboke dancing and drumming down the street, dancers wearing creepy masks, even the children’s hospital had hundreds of children in wheel-chairs participating in the parade holding small lanterns. Most lanterns represent some aspect of significance to Buddhists. A common lantern is the lotus design. The lotus and candle inside represent the blossoming of wisdom and enlightenment. Korean folk music and Buddhist chants filled the air. It was spectacular! I didn't have my camera, but thank goodness for Katelan and Amy! You can thank them for the beautiful pictures, but honestly the pictures and my attempt to be as descriptive as possible don't do justice on the feeling of being here for this big celebration! If you ever come to Korea, make sure to be here for Buddha’s week-long birthday celebration!!
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