Jenni's Visit

So finally a friend came to visit! :D It was so nice to be able to share my life here and my experience here with a friend from home.

The adventure started off not so good (only for me). I had some money stolen from me on the bus to the airport... but it's my own fault. I left my bag "unattended" with an envelope of cash. ㅠ.ㅠ I would like to think I'm not usually that stupid...

The next step in our adventure was Kyung-ju! We went to the old capital to see all the historical sites and do a temple stay. (A "temple stay" is where you stay overnight at a Buddhist temple and experience the life of the monk there to help you understand their religion.) We saw the tombs that look like mountains, beautiful architecture, and then I introduced Jenni to the strangeness of Korean food! ㅋㅋ (hehe)

We did a temple stay together in Kyung-ju at Golgulsa. However, it was a little strange. Even though they had monks who could speak fluent English... nothing was really explained to us! We were told WHAT to do, but not WHY. I really thought the point of the "temple stay" was to help us understand Buddhism better...

There was one point during the temple stay that we thought we might be in hell because we were walking VEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY SLOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWLYYYYYYY down a hill (that would only take us about 7 min normally) at 5 am when it was freakin freezing out. It took us at least 30 minutes. Painful. (And remember, we had no idea WHY we were doing it.)

It was until MUCH later (actually, one of the last things we did during the temple stay) at the Tea Ceremony that we could ask questions and were explained why they do certain things. I think that's a little backwards... but that happens often enough in Korea.

Well, we got back to Daegu safely enough. And partied. ^^ Dinner, board game room, karaoke room, a Korean bar and a Korean club!

I don't know which Jenni loved more... the karaoke room or the board game room. haha

The next day, our last day in Daegu, we did some local sites. The market, shopping and Dr. Fish! The fish eat your feet. It takes a little getting used to at first.

Sunday we headed up to Seoul! You could stay in Seoul for a week and still not see everything. So we tried to hit up the big ones. But first! Relaxing.

Masks are a great way to relax. Our hostel was also tops, so it was easy to feel comfortable there.

After we were all rested up, we headed out to the palaces! Gyungbokgung was our first stop. The weather was sooooo cold (and I, honestly, was soooooo sick) but we managed to have a great time!

The palace guard was there!

Don't we make a great couple? :D

Next stop was the Korean culture museum! It sounds boring, but it's actually very interesting because of all the folk statues they have, and unique pieces.

A must-do in Korea is getting your nails done. They have the best kind of "nail art" here. It's a little expensive, but worth it if you want to feel like a Korean. ^.* We got "couple nails." The same style, but different colors.

It was also really fun showing Jenni the food in Korea. It really is so different! So taking her to the restaurants and the grocery stores was a great experience. Needless to say, she LOVED the dried squid! haha. Can't you tell?

We were also able to make it to Seoul's art museum. Chagall was there, which was a wonderful surprise! However, we both thought it was kinda strange that there was no "Asian art" in the Seoul art museum!

After a long day of shopping, we treated ourselves to a nice show. The "Nanta" performance is really famous in Korea. It's kinda like the "Blue Man Group" with it's rhythm and storyline. ^^

On our last day before heading to the airport, we finally went to a Korean jjimjilbang! (Or, bathhouse.) We went to the best one in Seoul, called "Dragon Hill." It took Jenni a little getting used to, what with the being naked in public and all... hehe. But it really is a nice experience! I also had Jenni do the "body scrub." Basically, an old Korean woman in her underwear scrubs you down with the most abrasive cloth she can find until your skin is clean, new and bright red. haha.

So we definitely felt fresh after that. Jenni told me that her favorite parts of Korea were: the board game room, the karaoke room, the jjimjilbang, and the heated (ondol) floors. ^^ Those are my favorites too!

So after a too-quick week, we said good-bye. But not for long! I'm following soon... (too soon.)

Kyung-ju visit

Kyung-ju: Old Korean capital city back when there was a King. Obviously one of the oldest cities in Korea, and also one of the most rural. It has famous temples, farms, and old tombs. A very interesting place to visit. ^^

Hong Sung's family lives in Kyung-ju and he grew up there, so he invited me out to tour the sites. When we got to Kyung-ju one of the first things we did was eat! :D We had ssam-bap: meat wrapped in lettuce with a ton of side dishes... as you can see. haha

In the restaurant there were all these cute miniatures of traditional Korean "village life." A lot of the scenes had cows in them, since they were considered part of the family way back when you depended on them for your life. Since Kyung-ju is still very rural, we saw a whole bunch of cows. ^^ There were also fun game scenes depicted as well.

All these old people are playing yut-nol-i, a traditional Korean game. I'll teach you how to play when I'm back. ^^

After eating, we visited a park. Or what I thought was a park. It's actually a huge cemetery where all the old royalty is buried. See those mounds? Those are tombs.

The tombs were all different sizes. It all depended on how important you were. They're like the pyramids, except more natural. And I don't think it took thousands of slaves to make them.

Across from the graveyard was another graveyard, except bigger and more spread out. This one was definitely like a park. People were playing and eating and flying kites! An old man was selling kites he had made, and it was the perfect weather for it. Since I am the year of the tiger and this year is also the year of the tiger, I thought it was pretty cool that I could have my own "special" kite.

The tombs are about 2 inches high. And that man is just veeeeeeeeeeeery small. hehe

After the tombs, we stopped by one of the most famous temples in Korea: Bulguksa. At the entrance gate they have these huge statues on either side. They're the guarding gods, making sure the temple remains safe from evil spirits. They are definitely formidable-looking!

Temples in Korea usually have the same architecture, like churches in America. But every once in a while you come across one that has a unique quality; just like our famous churches in the world. They're special for some reason. Bulgulsa is special because it houses some of Korea's "national treasures," and is a World Heritage site.

I do like the architecture. It's unique and something I wont get to see back in the States.

After our adventures, we headed back to Hong Sung's home to eat with his family. His mom had made a special bulgogi just for my visit! One of my favorite Korean foods is bulgogi. ^^

Kyung-ju is completely different from Daegu. I was going to compare it to going from the city of Chicago out to the suburbs where my relatives live... but that's not even close enough. Kyung-ju is very refreshing; everything is natural and clean. A huge difference from the city smells of Daegu!

The Lying Buddha

At the end of July we had a much-needed vacation! Jin's family was kind enough to invite me to their trip to Baek-A mountain, which is a few hours southwest of Daegu. They were going to spend a few days in a cabin mountain.

This is our beautiful cabin in the woods!

Our cabin was split into two. The four of us on one side and another family on the other... the other family was fairly large and loud too!

On Thursday afternoon we took a tour of the countryside. We stopped by a bee farm and watched them add to the hives. There was a small convenience store with a kind old man! He built the wooden house and the store it was attached to. It was pretty awesome! It reminded me of a house you would see in Maine.

The people in the area were so nice too! They were very talkative, and gave us some of their Indian corn (ock-su-su) from their side-of-the-road gar

While we were in the area, we visited a few of the famous Buddha sites. This place was the "land of a 1000 Buddhas." Roughly. There were SO many! The myth for this area was that angels came down and were making all these Buddhas in one night, but the rooster crowd to signal daybreak and scared them all off. So most of them were left unfinished. Really interesting, but I wonder what the real story is.

This plant was used by women to paint their nails! If you crush up the flower it stains your fingers really easily. Jin's mom demonstrated for me. ^^

After MUCH hiking we finally reached the famous "Lying Buddha." It's the largest Buddha in Asia(?). But it's laying down... if I remember correctly it fell over because its base is too small. And in actuality there are two Buddhas stuck together... and they're actually carved into a bigger slab. Which I'm sure contributes to it being difficult to erect.

They have extra Buddha statues lying around every where! There really is no shortage of them.

The view from the top by the Lying Buddha was really amazing. There were both rolling hills and mountains everywhere. The weather was near perfect too... not too hot and a cool breeze at the top. I still remember Jin trying to catch dragonflies with his hat like an 8 year old... hehe.

Some of the Buddhas were definitely old.

This one reminded me of "The Thinker" statue.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of Buddha this is. I've never seen one in such a "come hither" pose. haha.

We took a break in the middle of the day on Sunday when we were seeing the "Dolman" stones. "Dol" means stone... So we were seeing "stone men." But the name is deceiving.

Basically all they are are large stones that don't belong there in the region. They were cut to build something, but that something was either never accomplished or so completely destroyed that they can't figure out what it used to be.

This is the largest dolman stone.

Apparently it has a hole in the top that looks like a vagina hole. The myth goes that if you throw a rock into it (and you're single) you will get married. If you miss the hole, you'll never get married. OR it could also mean that if you get your rock into the hole you'll have a boy for your first baby.

I got one in after the 4th try. Which either means I'll have to wait a helluva long time to get married... or I'll have 3 girls and a boy. haha.

If you can see the difference between the two pictures... congrats! You've found my rock.

It was a great trip with Jin's family. They really made me feel at home! It was nice being with a family again since I miss my own...

"I lift up my eyes to the hills..."

Jin took me on a day trip the weekend after my birthday. It was a surprise, so I had no idea where we were going. (I love surprises!) We had to take an early morning bus about an hour outside of the city and then transfer buses and ride for another half hour. It was a little complicated and it was so nice for Jin to take care of it all!

The morning mist was beautiful around the mountains...
Jin and I on our way to the largest women's Buddhist temple and college.

There was this beautiful path on our way up to the temple. It was quiet and peaceful and we were the only ones there that early in the day.


Entrance to the temple. We couldn't take any pictures of monks/nuns, so we had to stick to buildings and scenery.

The view from inside the temple grounds.

The main temple and oldest temple on the grounds. They were having a kids camp, and teaching the kids how to meditate and what to say. (That's what the posters are for)

Mats you kneel on to pray.

Buddha surrounded by individual carvings of all his different disciples. What I don't understand is how they know who is who or how many he even has. Especially since there are so many different Buddhas!

Either way, they're pretty cool looking. It might have taken a VERY long time to get these done...

Guardian angels that used to be outside the temple walls guarding it. Now they're inside the medicine Buddha's hut. Nobody knows why. (Seriously, I asked)

The medicine Buddha.

Another temple where the Buddha is surrounded by his disciples. Not sure why they're bigger though. Maybe they were kings and princes? Kinda hard to say.

The large temple grounds. This area started the college for women to learn the Buddhist ways.

It was actually a pretty amazing temple experience because while we were there a foreigner came up to us and gave us fruit. But she was dressed in the Buddhist monk clothing! A little while later we were able to sit down and talk with her. She explained how she had ended up in Korea studying Buddhism at the women's college. She also explained a lot of Buddhism that I had been wondering about.

Apparently there has always been a disagreement between the monks who think practice is more important, and the monks who think theology (or theory) is more important. To me, it sounded a lot like Christianity in that respect! She explained the tradition of the robes, the shaving their heads, and the different temples.

Religions are surprisingly the same sometimes. However, the biggest difference is that Buddha did not claim to be God. He doesn't save people from themselves or their sin. He only teaches people how to be separated from the world. How to remove yourself enough from it that you can rise above the human conditions of sickness, suffering and death. And there are many Buddhas. There is only one Christ.

However, there are similarities between how the two religions react to each other. Buddhism is split into many different sects... just like Christianity. Some disciples say one things is better, another says some other thing is more important... just like us. It makes me wonder what the difference is there. I wish there was some. Didn't Christ Himself pray for our unity?

We hiked deeper into the mountains to see some "marbles" from the bodies of departed Buddhist monks. When the Buddhists burned their leader after death, they started finding marbles that had formed from their body. Supposedly one body had as many as 300 marbles! (How somebody lives with 300 marbles in their bones, I will never know.) The more marbles you had, the holier you were.

Sadly, we were disappointed. The marbles were hidden inside the mountain and the only thing at the top of the mountain were more temples reserved for the truly devout Buddhist.

Seeing all the temples and alters built to Buddha and mountain gods made me think of David's psalm (121): "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

I remember learning in class that David is talking about being surrounded by the idols and temples that were always at the tops of mountains. He was seeing all these, and thinking about the LORD and the difference between Him and the idols that people worship. I think I am starting to understand more how David felt. These mountains surround the city... and there are temples on every one of them. So where does my help come from when surrounded by all this?

It comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.