Seoul is
bursting with colors these two weeks as the city celebrates Buddha's birthday.
Lanterns hang in single file down my street. It is nice to see the pink, red,
green, yellow, and blue in the daylight, but sadly, they are left unlit at
night.
To further
celebrate the Great One's birthday, Seoul put on a lantern festival. We missed
the cheer rally, but we did make it to Jogyesa Temple near Insadong to see
millions of lanterns. It was quite a sight! Reds, whites, oranges, blues,
yellows, and pinks blocked out the sky and danced above us. Lanterns hung
inside the temple surrounding the three Buddhas. Heart-shaped lanterns
surrounded the cement Korean Buddha and rows upon rows of yellow and blue
lanterns lay on tables to be given out for free to those who wanted to wait in
line and carry them about the city.
I was lazy,
and we didn't wait in line. But previously, Matt and I had elbowed our way into
a craft table and had made our own lotus lantern out of a paper cup and crepe
paper (which was the envy of all the Waygooks). And we had already carried this
lantern through Insadong, and the palace and Blue House neighborhoods.
After
exploring these areas and taking way too many photos of lanterns, we made our
way back to Jonggak to claim our space to watch the parade. An hour and a half
later the parade finally made it to Jonggak. It was quite impressive with the
large amount of small lanterns and enormous detailed lanterns. But it was also
kind of boring (we didn't know anyone in the parade). So we made it through about two hours before our feet gave out
and I had had it with the ajuma trying to set fire for hundreds of people with
her stupid lanterns. So we left and got a drink at "Ho Bar." When we
came out of Ho Bar, the parade was still going! But we left any way and spent
the rest of the night nursing our tired feet.
No new
sightings of possible stocker... the hair must have came from something else.
Matt made cracks about my being a 90s child because of my elaborate and
creative booby traps that Maccaulay Culkin would be proud of. But I still jump
and go running for a weapon every time someone slides an advert on my door or
anytime the neighbors start screaming at each other.
The
students I had previously written about have given me a nickname. Apparently,
it is Halmeoni, meaning Grandmother.
Because my name is "Calmenie" it rhymes with "Halmeoni." I
told them to change it and taught them the "Karma Chameleon." I don't
mind being Karma or Chameleon as long as I am not Grandma!
Trying to
get a student to say "Speaking. Who is calling, please" was quite the
comedic moment. I'd say "Repeat after me, 'speaking.'" And the
student would look at me and wait for me to say the phrase. And I said "no
you say, 'speaking'" and the student asked "Teacher, speaking
what!?!" Finally I had to drop the "speaking" portion of the
phrase and I fell into a giggling mass onto a table... which then decided to
turn over and land on my leg.
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