Myogaksa Temple Stay

We had the awesome pleasure of attending a Buddhist temple stay at the Myogaksa temple here in Seoul.  It was probably one of the most cultural experiences we've had yet, and we had so much dang fun with our little group.  The people at the temple were all really nice as well!  We loved the experience and would (groggily, but happily) do it again!

The temple stay is a program where you experience the Buddhist lifestyle for 24 hours.  We arrived at the beautiful grounds and were checked in and given our rooms and uniforms.  The pants are so comfortable!  I felt like I was wearing pajamas.  The weekend we were there it was pretty cold, so our program leader changed the location of a couple of events so we wouldn't freeze in the unheated program hall.  Here are some pictures of the gorgeous detailing of the temple and the grounds.  We learned that the reason behind the beautiful colors is that the temples were given permission to be painted colorfully, as the palaces were, because the king at the time was Buddhist.  So now Korea has colorful temples!  But the priests/monks, called Sunims, are required to wear grey and muted orange robes to symbolize their separation from material things, and they also shave their heads. Our Sunim was the best, but more on her later.

You can see that the structures here are well maintained.  The temple is on a hillside, so it's quite peaceful and away from traffic and noise, nestled in the hills and with a great view of the city.

On the way there, you can't see the temple until you turn the corner and then it's right there!  Below are some shots of the large program hall, with a large shrine and many decorations.

The program directors emailed us tons of photos from our stay, which was great because we didn't bring our camera... we figured we wouldn't be allowed to take pictures!  We did snap a few with our phones, but the rest are courtesy of the Myogaksa crew.  Thanks!

The statue behind us here was reconstructed after the war, with permission from the Zen Master.  If I remember correctly, I think the small Bodhisattvas on the sides are the 1,000 disciples of Buddha. 

After getting dressed, we went for instruction on how to do the prostration, or bow.  We made prayer necklaces and had to do 108 prostrations without stopping.  You would not believe how hard it was!  Our Sunim told us of a mother with a disabled daughter many years ago who was instructed by the High Level Zen Master to do 3,000 prostrations with her daughter, and then she would be healed.  The daughter got better!  To quote our Sunim, "This story REALLY happened.  Really!" Then she held up her finger.  She was a delightful guide to have.

Here is our group, plus another group that was there with us, doing our prostrations... and a great shot of the shrine, with the hotness himself front and center. :)

We left the smaller hall to recover from bowing (!), and went to participate in the evening ceremony, where they lit incense, sang chants/songs, and prostrated some more (gulp!).  It was freezing in the room, because the big hall has no heat and our sock feet were really cold.  But it was fun to hear the chants and the block-gourds beat in rhythm.

After the ceremony, we mercifully had dinner!  Buddhist monks eat only kimchi, soup, and rice for every meal, except for days they have the temple stay program, when the Zen Master gives them permission to eat "delicious food".  So our Sunim said, "Thank you for bringing me happiness and delicious food!"  We had a lovely vegan meal and then free time for a couple of hours.

We got to do/watch a formal tea ceremony, with all of the traditional dishes and loose leaf tea.  The Sunim said she would condense it for us since we were 1) behind schedule, and 2) Korean tea ceremonies can take up to 3 hours!  They got some great group shots, which they sent to us:

Then it was off to bed!  We were supposed to have lights out at 9:00.  Like the little children we are, we stayed up for a bit to play mafia with the other group - so fun! - and chat.  But soon enough our buckwheat pillows and big down comforters were calling, and we slept on the heated floor quite cozily.  We had to be up with the drums at 4:30 a.m. for the morning bell ceremony.  It was freezing, and you'd better believe that my legs were quite stiff from all the bowing. :/

Here's me, then Taggart, ringing the huge bell.

We had the morning ceremony, and then went downstairs for meditation.  We meditated for 50 minutes!  I love the next two pictures they took of Taggart - maybe it was the beard, or his height, or both, but he was in several of the shots they sent us.  Haha he's so popular!  Here we are being serious and contemplative (ahem, tired at 4:30), and then Taggart, demonstrating the consequences of moving during meditation.  Traditionally, Sunims in training would get smacked on the shoulders with a giant bamboo slapstick, which would definitely deter you from falling asleep!

I must say, we rocked the meditation.  Taggart never moved at all!  We were allowed to move one leg out if we needed to, which I did because my whole leg fell asleep, from the hip down.  It was actually kind of peaceful to empty your mind for almost an hour.  But she did slap the stick in the air to let the group know we were being too noisy, which definitely made us stop moving immediately!!!

By the end of the meditation, it was STILL dark outside, that's how early it was.  We finally got to go eat breakfast, which was delicious once again, and then we bundled up for a nature walk.

Our Sunim is awesome and told many stories throughout our stay.  I'm sorry I don't remember them all!  She told us of a Bodhisattva who couldn't stay awake during meditation, so he cut off his eyelids and cast them aside, and they sprang up into a green tea tree, and that's why green tea helps you stay awake!  She also told us of the "hard practice" that Sunims and Zen Masters have to go through, including meditation for up to 20 hours a day.... yeesh.   According to our Sunim, they become so in tune with the spiritual realm that High Level Zen Masters can see dragons and phoenixes, who bring water and fire, respectively.... "Really!"  

While on the nature walk, the Sunim was next to me, and she told me that during the meditation she read everyone's auras and energies.  She said I had a "very clean energy, very good spirit", and then said, unprompted, "The things you are afraid of right now, don't be!  You shouldn't worry about what will happen, you should just do it!"  haha With her fireball attitude and spiritual deication, I should probably listen to her advice!

As the sun came up, we gathered in an outdoor pagoda to turn towards the sun, representing the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams.  We took a walk in silence back to the temple, learned of the symbols of the temple and the pictures on the sides of the building, and then the stay was over.  I love this picture (I put it on Facebook):

Taggart is probably saying something funny here:

Here's Taggart in the courtyard as we were about to leave:

I stole this picture from Ariel, a YSA from our group - Thanks!  haha  I love the details on the doors.

We had an amazing time - an experience, for sure, but awesome!

Vacation Regurgitation

Alas, I fear I will never break this cycle of no posts and then a slew of posts in mass regurgitation, but I think that's just how my brain is wired.  My endeavors for this month have been centered around end-of-year evaluations and finals, and so I am just getting back to normal.  So allow me to share with you the goings on of the new year so far!

First of all, it has been cold here for the past almost 4 months.  I am not used to this as a Coloradoan, and let me tell you, I much more appreciate the schizophrenic nature of Colorado weather, when it is consistently 0C two weeks in a row here.  Ugh.  Taggart has started an official photo series entitled Danielle's Seasons (so far comprising only the above two pictures) where he says my outfits capture my mood towards the season.  So you see before you Autumn Danielle and Winter Danielle.  Autumn me is much more relaxed overall.  And warmer.  I miss her.

We got to see the Nutcracker for Christmas, which I was really happy about because I needed to get my Tchaikovsky Christmas fix.  It was a good show - but no CSO!!!!  The theatre was cool, though:

There were some awesome lights in the city for Christmas as well, so we took a photo op:

One of the saddest parts about the new year has been that I've lost a bunch of kids.  We said goodbye to half of my class as they moved, started learning Chinese in place of English, or just quit.  This is Helen, one of my favorite kids, on her last day.  It's definitely not as bubbly without her here.

But thankfully, we still have these gems around - Jay and Yeriel are seriously the best.  I'm glad that even though they're in Taggart's class, I get to spend time with them.  Our classes combine frequently, and the latest favorite reason for this is for us to play games during our extra time.  We have created an intricate Laser/Ninja maze game with wrapping paper rolls (Taggart and I are really good lasers by the way, the sound effects are awesome...) and we have epic Limbo tournaments.  Taggart's kids even practice limbo at home!!! haha They use coat hangers and have their parents help them so they'll be better at school.  We also taught them to play Uno this month.  They love games.

Here's just a sampling of the cuteness!

I am frequently used as a jungle gym, and while the Korean teachers think I'm crazy for letting kids hang on me all day, or for me flipping them around or upside down, I totally love it.  Before we closed the playroom to renovate the third floor, I was either the evil dinosaur or the mommy dinosaur, and both required kids to be hanging off of me, apparently.

Here's also a cute shot of Alice on the swings at a playground they went to.

My birthday was amazing - I have some awesome friends here who orchestrated a surprise party for me.  It all began with a decoy cake, then led to a simple girl's day outing for shopping/lunch- it was supposed to end there.  Little did I know that the sneaky-petes planned a party for me.  It was so fun!

Gina and Heather took me to Hongdae for manicures and my favorite - Shabu-Shabu!

Then I got an amazing Korean ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  The cakes here are beautiful, remember?  I mentioned that I wanted one months ago, and Taggart came through.  :):):)

 We played games and I got an amazing video message edited by Taggart from a bunch of friends and family.  It was the best surprise, and I had absolutely no idea about any of it - which is saying something, because I always find that kind of stuff out!  I'm bad with surprises!

We've gotten to take several outings the past two months, some of which I'm saving for separate posts or else this one will be SOOOOooooo long.  We met up with our friend Carl for a spontaneous trip to Myeongdong for Indian food and exploring - this is an amazing Catholic cathedral that was built in the 1800s and has become one of the Catholic hubs in Seoul:

 When we went to look inside, we realized there was a mass going on - with a wedding!  You can see the bride and groom at the front.  We, of course, sat there for like 5 minutes and crashed the wedding, and unabashedly took pictures:

I do! <3 p="">

  We had after-wedding munchies, so we went for dessert at an adorable second-story cafe, and they had CHEESECAKE!  It was a win all around.

By the way, if you forgot, Korea has some weird and crazy things to be found when you shop around.

Be sure to hit up the "gym" after your next doctor's visit!  Also, there's a Goodwill here, who knew?  It was closed for Lunar New Year, so we couldn't go in, but I bet it has awesome stuff in it.

 Taggart and Carl saw this yesterday in Suwon.  The sign apparently says something like, "Grandpa Turtle, please don't touch".  It's just a dead sea turtle outside of some guy's shop.  Huh.

 So if it's not for sale, why is it there?

Here's the man himself!  Our good friend Carl.  He had us over on my birthday for a Mediterranean feast that he made from scratch.

Lamb, eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, and other nummies stewed beautifully in a cumin and coriander sauce over couscous.  With fresh bread to sop up the dregs.  SO GOOD!

I said goodbye to another of my favorite students last week, named Peter.  He lived in Quebec for 2 years, so his English is really good.  He left to go to a more advanced school, but I will really miss him.  He has such a dry sense of humor, similar to what I imagine Ben Stein was as a child.  He is also the creator of the Trash Can series, of which there were over 4 installments.  I forced my class to take a group shot, because this class is so much fun, despite the rocky start we had as we tried to find our groove.  These are the amazing smartypants kids I always talk about!

 Look at that cheesy grin. "woOOOoooow'. (as read by Ben Stein)

My kindy kids are down to three girls, because I've got some kids travelling this month.  So we've had a girl party!  My class is really starting to get into reading and writing, and they are working so hard!  I was lucky to snap this shot on a day when it was just Alice and Jean, and they were both really happy and giggly all day.  They love doing their work without my help - they made me "zip" my mouth closed last week, so I had to hum all my words while they worked.

 Here's the girl party attendees on Valentine's Day: Alice, Marsha, and Jean. (Jeanie Beanie)

 We made flowers with Daisy class.  Jay made his an umbrella.

 The obligatory school activity photo shoot:

 Oh yeah, Jay came to school as a ninja on Valentine's Day, partially because we've been playing ninjas so much that he's obsessed.  He wore his mask like this all day, and signed the Valentine he made "From, Ninja".  I would love to have seen his mom's reaction to that!  She must've died!

 Pluto class just wanted to be flowers. 

 I also took pictures of my J4 class last week with their Chinese Zodiac projects.  We've been learning about the Zodiac signs for the last month, and I had them present before the vacation.  I am now a pseudo expert on Chinese astrology, so if you want to know your color, element, or love compatibility according to the Chinese calendar, email me!  haha

 In order: Kate, Alice, Jihyun, Tom, and Lucas.

 I'll leave you with this shot of the aftermath of a fabulous dinner we had with our Korean teachers a few months ago.  I forgot to post it, but this is what a traditional Korean meal looks like - we had several courses, including 3 types of kimchi, octopus, taro root, jellyfish (that's right, I said JELLYFISH), and many other dishes.  The amount of dish-washing that must go on here is insane.  No wonder Koreans eat out!  I would NEVER want to cook this myself, unless I had a busboy or dish-washing servant.  It was delicious though!  I'm in love with Korean food.

Happy New Year!  More posts to come soon!