Weekend (April 24-26) -- II

I thought about skipping drum class Saturday morning. Our regular instructor wasn't going to be there, and I knew I should spend time studying for Monday's test in Korean class. But I decided to go and am very glad I did. The substitute did an excellent job of drilling us on technique. I don't know how much I improved, but I better understood what I should be doing. After lunch near the Arts Center and the subway ride home, I stayed in and did do some studying -- although not as much as I thought I would. Just couldn't get myself energized.

I should note that Seoul Plaza, in front of City Hall, has changed again. The chairs, which I thought were for next week's Hi Seoul Festival, are gone, and grass and flowers have returned. Apparently there was some event, that I didn't know about, held there; once it was over, the chairs disappeared. There must be public employees who do nothing but work on the Plaza!

Sunday I went to church and then directly to the Lotus Lantern Festival held on the street in front of Jogyesa Buddhist Temple. The temple was decorated for the celebration of Buddha's Birthday which officially is next Saturday (May 2) but, like Christmas, spreads over a longer period. Notice all the hanging paper lanterns.

































The Lotus Lantern Making event for foreigners is sponsored by the International Dharma Instructors' Association and is very well organized. One must register in advance (around 200 spots are available) and be assigned a seat number; at check in participants are given a tag to wear which is then placed on the lantern for the judging. Helpers, attired in pink jackets, are available to help everyone with the steps in making the lantern. Unfortunately, I didn't fully understand and, by stretching the paper, managed to make an extremely funny (wrinkled) looking lantern. But the experience was fun with all the participants having a good time. At one point the Abbot of the Temple came by with his entourage of monks to greet us; because a family with three children was seated across the table from me, he spent a lot of time looking at their lanterns and conversing with them.




My helper with me and my lantern. She is not to be blamed for the final product!

After I finished making my "masterpiece," I spent a couple of hours wandering around the festival. There were many hands-on booths where, for a small sum of money, one could try out different activities: making paper boxes, masks, jewelry, participating in a formal tea ceremony, and even meditating.

It being Korea, there were also a few strange (to me anyway) booths. Dentistry and face painting?!!
There was also a variety of entertainment on or near the stage which was in the center of the 4-block long festival area.
I, of course, was particularly interested in the pungmulnori group. The "players" in their mime dance/drama were particularly good.

Tired by having been on the go from 9:15 to almost 4:30, I returned home for a bit of a rest before returning to the area to attend the Lantern Parade in the evening. That will be covered in the next blog.