Happy 2554th Birthday!

Friday was Buddha's 2554th birthday which, along with Christmas, is one of the two major religious holidays in Korea. (Twenty-nine percent of Koreans are Christian; 22% are Buddhist. The rest have no religious preference.) Buddha's birthday celebration includes several lotus lantern festivals, lantern-making workshops, street performances, and a huge parade. Unfortunately, I caught on a little late and we missed the big parade and the lighting of the lanterns (which is done the Sunday before his birthday) but I hope we'll catch it next year because it looks amazing from the pictures I've seen.

Luckily, I did a little research and discovered that Bongeunsa, one of the biggest Buddhist temples in Seoul, was still hosting its exhibition of hand-made paper lanterns. So Saturday afternoon, David and I ventured across the Han River to visit the temple. (It's right across from the COEX mall, the biggest mall in Asia.)

After pulling into the parking lot, David and I were greeted by this statue of Buddha in the center of a pond filled with lotus flowers. I was quite surprised how big and spacious the temple complex was and how much greenery surrounded the individual buildings. It's always rare to find open space and nature in such a big city like Seoul.

Of course, there were the millions and millions of lotus lanterns hanging up. The white tags include people's prayers or blessings. Sadly, workmen were already taking down many of the lanterns. I wonder how many were originally hanging.

Since we drove and parked at the temple, we didn't enter through the main gates of the temple complex, but if we had, we would have been greeted by this beautiful walkway.

This small building was situated on a hill, overlooking the main entrance of the complex. One thing that constantly fascinates me about Asia is the juxtaposition of the traditional relics of the past with the modernity of a 21st century metropolis. Though we were surrounded by beautiful examples of traditional Korean architecture and the peace and tranquility that nature brings, all around us were skyscrapers and the noises of cars and buses clogging up the traffic-jammed city streets of Seoul. It's not unlike sitting deep within Central Park and having the bustle of New York City momentarily fade away. Somehow, it's very comforting to find places that make me forget that I live in city with 20 million other people. I take them where I can find them.


Inside this building, there were many people bowing over and over again to Buddha. It just looked exhausting to me, but then again, I'm creeping into that stage of pregnancy where sitting down and standing up are becoming more and more laborious.

I love old doors. I can't say why.

At the back of the temple complex is this massive statue of Buddha (and more lanterns!). David and I sat down here to rest and enjoy a little picnic lunch. I sure hope Buddha doesn't mind that we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Cheetos at his feet.

Can I just take a moment to express my joy over the arrival of Spring? I'm so glad it's here. Finally. It was a long, cold winter.

And Summer? Please don't hurry. It feels just fiiine right now. I don't need your heat or humidity or monsoon rains just yet.

Our last stop after walking around the whole complex was this building where they typically hold academic lectures and cultural courses but which was currently housing the absolutely breathtaking hand-made lanterns designed by the monks.

This lotus flower lantern was by far my favorite. Some were incredibly abstract and others were just a little silly (like the recreation of Dokdo). But all were simply amazing to see in person.

A Korean warrior and a drum.

A woman.

A sunrise.

And wings, which greeted us when we first walked into the room.

It started to sprinkle just as we were leaving the temple, so we headed back home instead of venturing to Jogyesa (the other big Buddhist temple in Seoul) but I'm glad we got out and saw Bongeunsa while the lanterns were still there.

David and I keep saying we need to be more proactive about going out and seeing the sites of Korea. I hope now that spring is here, we'll make more of an effort, but next weekend we'll be taking a quick 4-day tour of Beijing that was organized by David's command. We thought it'd be nice to get in one more trip before the third trimester sets in and traveling is a no-no. Luckily the flight to Beijing is only two hours and the whole trip (meals, hotel, tours, and activities) have been arranged for us. I can't wait to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City! Expect a ridiculous number of photos when I return.

Breaking News Updates

I have another post in the works (I have a short attention span these days so I often take a looong time to write my more lengthy entries) but I had to stop and quickly mention three things unrelated to each other and the other, longer post:

1) My darling husband is very darling and sweet. On Thursday, the 2nd, I woke up to find that David had written me a very sweet note and left it for me on the bathroom mirror. And then, later that evening, I returned from my substitute teaching course to discover an empty home. David arrived shortly after with a dozen beautiful orange/peach roses and two bottles of Martinelli's and said "Happy four months!!!" And because the gesture was so sweet and the sentiment so adorable, I almost didn't have the heart to tell him that our four month anniversary is actually on Monday, the 6th. He mixed up our wedding date (June 6th) with the anniversary of our first date (May 2nd). Still, how sweet is a man who brings you flowers for putting up with you for 4 months? I say he's a keeper.

2) I got a job. Sort of. No, it's a job, but it's a part-time job. I'll be working for the Hawaii Department of Education with a new volunteers and partners program they've been piloting. I'll split my time between three schools (two elementary, one middle school) helping them keep track of their volunteers and posting volunteer opportunities through the DOE's website. It sounds like a pretty easy-going job with a set amount of hours each week (17) and it will allow me to still sub once or twice a week as well. Plus, it pays pretty well. At least, more than I've ever been paid for a job so that just working part-time, I'll be making almost as much as I made at some of my previous full-time jobs. So all in all, I think it'll be a good fit for me and I'm excited to be working with the public schools and getting more experience in an educational setting.

3) During the morning session of Conference today, President Monson announced that the Church is building a temple in Rome, Italy. Those of you who know me know that I spent a semester studying abroad in Rome four years ago and that I'm minorly obsessed with Italy. I attended a small branch on the outskirts of Rome during my months there and knew the people to be a very faithful bunch but who, like a lot of European wards/branches, needed a stronger anchor and connection to the church because their membership was so sparse. The closest temple is in Switzerland and not many members had many opportunities to attend. I hoped that someday Rome (or anywhere in Italy) would get a temple and I can't tell you how surprised and elated and grateful I am that the church will finally be building a temple there. I literally cheered out loud, screaming "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" and "Take that, Vatican!" when I heard the news. I know it'll be a few years before it's actually completed and that, more than likely, the temple will be located in the outskirts of the city, but I hope that someday I'll finally get to made a return trip to my beloved Italy and go to the Rome temple. I've been lucky to have lived close to many temples (well, at least for the next few months....the Laie temple is closing for major renovations after Christmas....it needs them too since it's the oldest temple outside of Utah but I'm sad to go so long without an operating temple close by though there is a temple on the Big Island) and I can't imagine how a temple in Italy might help the work in that area.

So lots of good news all around. Just had to share.