Buddha's Birthday

This weekend was a time of celebration all over Korea. It was Buddha's Birthday and it is a huge holiday for the country. Almost every school (except for private academys) had Thursday thru Tuesday off for the holiday. Thursday of last week, was Children's Day. A day to celebrate kids, buy them presents, and take them to a rowdy amusement park. I went to a wonderful festival for Children's Day in Ilsan. It was the Flower Festival and the entire park was covered in flowers and displays. It was a beautiful day and I had a great time! Then it was back to school on Friday.

On Saturday, a group of teachers and I went to go see the Lantern Festival, which is the celebration for Buddha's birthday. Before heading into Seoul, we stopped in Itaewon for a Western meal. I remembered seeing a restaurant called The All-American Diner and I promised the teachers a real breakfast like back home. Well, I forgot where it was and we walked around for about 30 minutes. Luckily, we started talking to a Korean couple from America and they pointed us in the right direction. It was so worth it! We all had breakfast at 1:00pm. I had eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, and hashbrowns with a big barrell of coke to top it all off! It was wonderful! Except that it cost about $15. At IHOP it would have only cost about $8! But I will make the sacrifice for a little taste of home.

After brunch, we went into Seoul to the Lantern Festival. It was unbelievable how many lanterns filled the city. Every street corner and store had a lantern hung up and the colors were incredible. We ended up going to a temple and observed many people praying and bowing to Buddha. After the temple and walking around the city, we stood on the streets of Seoul and watched the Lantern Parade through the city. The best part was seeing the hundreds of monks walking through the street with their offerings for Buddha. There were many floats in the parade and every float was a huge lantern. The parade lasted for two hours and when it finished it was 9:00pm. We decided to head home after a long day of being tourists.

As for my daily life in Korea, I have been working alot and actually enjoying myself at work. I feel like I am so used to this job that it just comes naturally now. Rarely do I have a surprise or get scolded at for not doing something because I am on top of my game! My friends are great and I have been bonding well with the new teachers. It's amazing how fast you become friends with people here, but us foreigners have got to stick together! I made the stupid mistake of joining a gym and now I feel obligated to go. 6am work-outs here I come! The Summer weather has started and that means humidity, rain, and poofy hair :( Also, Korea has the awful season called "yellow dust." It's when the pollution from China drifts down with the wind and creates a yellow dust in the air. The level of danger changes daily, but small children, the elderyly, and sick people should stay inside if it's at a high level. It causes phlem and people get coughs, etc. It should only last for a month, so hopefully it'll be gone for my Birthday! I don't want to be sick! Have a good day friends and family! Love you all!






The Ceiling of Lanterns




Inside the Temple