Buddha's Birthday, Part 1: Bulguksa

This year in Korea, Buddha's birthday was celebrated on May 17th.  It fell on a Friday so our school had a 3-day weekend. On Thursday we took the kindys to a temple on Suri Mountain (I think it was Suri but it could have been Gwanak).  Lotus lanterns of all colors decorate the city and the temples in the weeks leading up to his birthday. When you enter a temple area there is usually a fountain for you to drink from, along with ladles for you to use. I'd like to learn more about the temples and the proper etiquette, etc, and you can actually sign up for a templestay to experience it and learn more about it.  Four-hour programs to a week-long stay are available.  You can choose from about 50 different temples to visit and most offer translators. I believe chanting, meditation, community work, hiking, and praying is involved but you can choose to participate in whatever you like.  I'll let you know if I ever decide to do a templestay.  For now, check out these pictures from this temple up in the mountains.  This one featured a reclining Buddha.  My co-teacher said when it came time to take her exams, her grandmother went to her temple and bowed 100 times so that she would do well.  A formal bow is not just a short bend from the middle, but instead involves kneeling, raising your hands palm-up, bringing them to your forehead, then lowering to the floor, your arms go to the ground and your head kind of drops to the mat.  I could barely do one but she said that it takes years to practice so I felt better. 




For the 3-day weekend, my director invited the teachers to visit Kyung-ju with her.  Kyung-ju is a coastal city about 250 miles from Seoul and is known for the Silla Dynasty.  The Silla Kingdom ruled Korea (or most of it) between the 7th and 9th centuries.  That's wicked old, and there was plenty of really old stuff to check out here.  It was a pretty quick road trip and worth the drive.  We stopped at rest stops pretty often because we were traveling with the teachers' kids and those were interesting in itself: they were clean and served pretty good food (not fast-food) with silver cutlery and porcelain china (okay, maybe not, but the food wasn't served in plastic or paper plates). I had the pork cutlet, one of my favorite Korean dishes.  Of course the meals are served with sides, mine had soup, rice, kimchi, radish and macaroni salad.  



Chloe messing with Ryan.

Road trip!  Mimi, Johnny and Chloe in the back.



 

Pork cutlet, yum!



The rest stops are clean and friendly.  But they don't sell postcards or knick-knacks.

When we arrived in Kyung-ju the first order of business was a tour of the area.  As a history major, I would have loved to learn about the interesting things the tour guide was saying but alas, I do not understand Korean, so I could only look and take pictures.  That was the frustrating thing about the whole weekend: so much history everywhere and no way to understand what everything is, so it was frustrating and at times, boring.  (My director even gave us an itinerary of the weekend.  Was anything in English?  No!  Why do I need this itinerary?  So frustrating. Ryan and I just got off the bus when everyone else did, got on the bus when everyone else did, got in the car when everyone else did, etc, etc.) 

My director with her son, Johnny, at the activity center.

A Silla headdress

Royal tombs, called tumuli.

 
 

Our tour director explaining the tombs and statues.

Tombs of the royal Joseon Dynasty.

By evening, the tour took us to Bulguksa, the head temple for the Jogye order of Korean Buddhists.  Basically, it's a bad-ass temple, hundreds of years old and is one of the National Treasures of Korea. UNESCO also added it to the World Heritage List.  We toured the temple and checked out all the different Buddhas, altars and pagodas inside.  I believe Bulguksa is referred to as the main temple but as you walk up the stone staircases, there are more temples on each level. From what I understand, these very old temples are closed to the public but are opened only on Buddha's birthday.  So visiting this site and celebrating his birthday here was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

The lanterns are strung together and are still on the ground.  At the beginning of the ceremony and as it gets darker and before the procession begins, the lanterns are raised up. People "buy" the lanterns and their families names, or whomever they wish to pray for, are written on the long pieces of paper attached to the lantern.  How much you pay depends on the temple and the type of lantern.  I don't know how long the lanterns stay up, but they stay there, you don't take them home.

The Dabotap, the stone pagoda.  I don't know what its exact use is, I just know that it's very old and it's an official treasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At around 5pm crowds started to line up outside the main, top-most temple.  Our group was fifth in line, I think we booked it with the tour guide to get a close spot near the front.  The monks passed out lotus lanterns, sticks and candles to everyone and we slowly lit up our lanterns.  It was a very pretty sight, and got prettier as it got darker.  

More National Treasures! Gilt-bronze statue of Buddha #1

Gilt-bronze statue of Buddha #2

Little stone pagodas found all around the temple.  People build them from the rocks in the garden.  You're supposed to make a wish, my co-teacher says, when you build one.

 

First, they pass out the candles.

Then they give you a lantern, stick and wire.



Behold! 

 Three of my co-teachers are Buddhists and had never been to this ceremony so they were excited about it, too.  One of the teachers said you must make a wish on this day and Buddha will grant it!  After the head monk said the prayers, the whole crowd circled the temple, chanting Buddha's name. The procession goes around the entire temple three times.  It was very neat to see and I'm glad I got to be a part of it!

 

We're happy, really!  We just look tired and hungry because we'd been up since 5 that morning.  And it was freezing out because we're up in the mountains.

Cafes

There is an abundance of cafes in Korea, some are chains, some aren't. It's been fun visiting the different ones in my neighborhood and seeing what they have to offer.  While there are a few Starbucks stores here, Paris Baguette has a much bigger presence.  Another popular coffee place is Tous Les Jours and like Paris Baguette, it is a "French-Asian" bakery.  They are Korean companies that offer baked goods and beverages.  Both open early and close late.  Other cafes, including Starbucks, don't open till 10am.  They are a popular place to meet up with friends, share some treats (Koreans are all about sharing) or do homework.

 

 

None of these places that I've gone to serve regular drip coffee, instead, they serve specialty coffee and teas, including Americanos, lattes, mochas and green tea concoctions, hot or iced.  There are separate cafes that offer "hand-drip coffee" and these are fairly new places; I haven't found one yet.  Most of my Korean friends drink Americanos black, no sugar or cream.  The cafes will offer syrup (like simple syrup) to sweeten your coffee, or they have sugar packets available, but don't offer cream. (Still haven't figured that out yet.)

 

Drinks usually run about 4,000 won (about $3.50) for about a 12 ounce drink.  Here is a menu from Caffe la Terre. Their prices aren't as expensive as most.  You'll notice that only one size is offered.  I've only seen one or two places that offer two different sizes and they were in Seoul.  (I think Mayor Bloomberg would be pleased that gigantic, fattening drinks aren't being offered up for sale.)  If your drink is take-out they usually knock off 500-1000 won off the price!

 

Here are some samples of what I've been enjoying the past several months:

A waffle with pistachio ice cream at Caffe Bene.

Egg custard and some hot dog thingy.

Tirimisu at Brown Bread

Pecan tart at Etarte (about half the sugar you'd expect in a regular pecan tart).

Egg custard and choco horn (to take for lunch).



Separate smoking room in Caffe Bene.  Most cafes have a room for smokers. 







One of my favorite cafes- Coffeesmith. Three open floors and the best milk tea!

 

A café located in Anyang Art Park.  I don't know the name but it has pretty views.



     

 

With Helen and Ina.  I'm supposed to be helping Helen with her English but she found a guitar behind the counter so she played some Beatles instead. 

The cafes are great places to enjoy some coffee and visit with friends but they are usually very loud.  I don't know how students can concentrate with all the noise.  But most cafes offer free wifi and that's a big draw.  If you have a favorite spot you need to get there early because these cafes become packed by the evening, and forget about the weekends.  You usually end up sharing a table with other people who just want to play on their phone, read, or study while sipping their coffee. One thing I've learned- people's personal space is a much smaller bubble here than back at home.  Korea doesn't have a lot of space and I see that in the cafes, not just the buses and subway trains.

So where do you go if you want coffee and the café isn't open?  Head to a convenience store! Eight ounce cans of iced coffee is the popular drink of choice with a dozen different brands and a dozen different types.  Just think of the Starbucks Double Shot can- most everyone I know drinks this type of coffee.  For me, it's just sweetened, coffee-flavored milk, I don't think it has enough caffeine for me. 

It's difficult to eat right when everywhere I turn there is some pastry calling my name.  I guess we'll see if I balloon to 200 pounds by the end of the year.  Stay tuned...