Kunbongsa Temple

Kunbongsa Temple

Buddha's birthday

As part of the cultural experience, it was only fitting that I went to a temple on Buddha's birthday. Unfortunately it was on a very rainy day. The temple was one of the small ones, hidden in a valley next to a river. It was a very tranquil place fitting for a place of worship.

I've noticed that the Buddhist temples are more hidden and separate from society, I guess that's why Christianity 'spreads' so fast, a lot more churches can be build in the heart of a community taking up little space.

We had the traditional noodles and bibimbab afterwards. It reminded me of my gran's church. Whenever there was a special day at church, we'd get lunch afterwards. The same thing happened after Easter sunday mass.

We're all of different faiths and religions but our humanity and compassion is universal.

All of the lights

Lantern Parade

Johnlyn, Andrew, Jasmin and me.

It's Buddha's birthday on May 10th and to celebrate, at least that's what I thought, Seoul had a lantern parade.

Seoul

Seoul searching (had to do it!)

The Seoul metro

The view when entering Seoul

My first time in Seoul and having grown up in Johannesburg one would imagine that I would be used to the big city but I wasn't expecting this. The moment you step out of the bus station , the first thing you notice is the amount of people there are. There are about 10 million people in Seoul a big jump from the 200 plus people in my small town, it took some adjusting.

Like all major cities, the subway is the only way to travel and as I moved along the lines and saw a portion of the city, I was so happy I'm in a small town. The city is too big.

The first grade

Couple of things I learnt yesterday:

1. Apparently the must have accessory for all first graders is a cellphone. A touch screen cellphone to be specific. Every second child had one. Who are they calling? What are they discussing?

2. A field trip packed lunch is very different here. It's a complete three course meal. I think we limited ourselves in the West.

3. The parents supply the teachers with lunch.

All roads lead to ... Sokcho and Yangyang

Annual school field trip on Wednesday and I missed the bus to Wonju and spending the day at a theme park. Instead I had to go with the grade one's to Sokcho and Yangyang, I seem to always end up in Sokcho. We went to a Korean cultural centre, which I must admit I would have never gone to had it not been for missing the bus, so it's safe to say, everything happens for a reason!

The children and me got to see traditional Korean customs, from traditional instruments to traditional dances and homes. I totally felt like a tourist ( I looked like one too).

One month later...

Having began the new phase of my life over a month ago, leaving my mother and sister at the OR Tambo airport feels like a distant memory. March 24th was the last time I was on African soil, I miss the warmth and familiarity of it all.

Now I find myself in Asia, in a small country that looks like a part of China. We aren't so far from it, just yesterday, the dust from the Gobi desert carrying with it harmful toxins it's gathered on the trek across China, arrived and created a yellow cloud. Got my first taste of the "yellow dust" and I didn't have my face musk. Next time I will be prepared.

It all feels like a holiday. The scenery complete with green evergreens and, the mountains with snow covered tops and the rivers all look like Mphumalanga in the summer and having travelled to Donghae over the weekend, it's safe to say that most of the country is the same- filled with mountains, trees and pockets of civilisation. I know that if this was South Africa or any western nation, these areas may be considered prime real estate.