Tong Do Sa
This is a busy month here...it's family month. Children's day was on May 5th, parents day was May 8, teacher's day is on the 15, and there's also "couple's day" which is coming soon. Parent's day used to be called 'Mother's day', but it was changed to include father's too. But, that was only for optics, the day is still mostly for mothers. This year Buddha's birthday fell on Chldren's day and we lost a holiday. Normally Buddha's Birthday, which celebrates the date when he achieved enlightenment, is also a national holiday.
A couple of friends were kind enough to take me along with them to Korea's second most famous temple, Tong Do Sa. It was beautiful! Here's the website for the temple: http://english.tongdosa.or.kr
Tong Do Sa has a temple stay program during the summer where foreigners can stay for 4 or 5 days, learn about buddhism and experience life as a monk. That's where I plan to go in August.
While Tong Do Sa is the largest, oldest and most magnificent temple for many miles, it is surrounded by about 30 smaller temples called 'Am Ja' which are beautiful in their own right. As I waited as my friends attended a buddhist ceremony I sat on a hill in the woods just taking in the beauty and peace.
Below are pictures from Tong Do Sa and a couple of the smaller temples we visited.
Latern Festival at Tong Do Sa
Buddha's sari and surplice are stored in this structure. This area of the temple is considered very holy and is only open on Buddha's birthday.
A walk in the woods
Each stone in these piles represents a wish someone has made.
"Fantasy Land" Theme Park not far away from Tong Do Sa temple.
Apparently Gimchi made the news not too long ago. Yes, according to the New York Times, Korea's favourite, fermented cabbage dish made the list of the world's top health foods. Here's the list :
- Olive oil from Spain
- Soy from Japan
- Yogourt from Greece
- Lentils from India
- Gimchi from Korea
I've started using a traditional Korean wooden pillow. It's helped a lot with a problem I had with my neck. I don't use it everyday, but now and then I'll lie on the floor with the pillow behind my neck and rest. I learned about the wooden pillow from Wonjangnim (not her name, just a respectful way of saying 'owner'), the 70 year old lady oriental doctor that's been treating me.
My wooden pillow
So far, so good! Last weekend I bought a pair of jeans and a couple of t-shirts here. I never thought I'd be able to fit into the clothes here! The jeans I bought are size 36...it's been about 8 or 9 years since I've been able to wear that size. I'm aiming for size 30 or 32. Only two more treatments to go, then it's up to me. Almost ready for Hapkido training.
On a cultural note...Korean's don't use the word 'my'. Everything is 'our', i.e.our school, our country. In conversation they even refer to their husband or wife as 'our husband' or 'our wife'. They really mean 'my husband' and 'my wife', but still I find it interesting. Culturally I guess they put the collective before the individual, while we tend to do the opposite.
There is one more holiday this month, national election day, on May 31. However, I pointed out to a couple of my friends that if your L's sound like R's, then it's probably safer to you call election day, voting day instead. If you know what I mean?
Speaking of politics...I really have to find out about Korean political system. I have very little idea of how it works other than I think they vote for parties and not people. But, at the same time there are independent candidates, so....I don't know. Also, they have both a president and a prime minitster. And I thought we had it rough!
Take Care
pae
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