Buddha's Birthday

We did not get the day off work for Buddha's Birthday (I had a few of my classes sing Happy Birthday to Buddha) since we had Children's day off and then they gave us Friday off as well instead of only Thursday and Tuesday. We, got the same amount of vacation days and a 4 day weekend. So, the night before, Spenser and I decided to head down to the Suwon Fortress and check out what activities were going on. Sadly, nothing was happening when we got there at 8:30 am. Luckily, there was a Buddhist temple with a giant gold Buddhist statue, the same one as seen in the blog before. So, we took the 5 minute stroll up to the temple to see what was happening. I'm glad we did.

(Giant Gold Buddha)

(Not sure the purpose of the lanterns, part of me thinks it's more for fundraising for the temple but I'm sure there's a practical purpose - light = enlightenment, not sure, but it looked awesome)

(More lanterns coming out from the temple and surrounding complexes. Not sure about the colors either, if they have a special meaning.)

(Ringing the bell at the temple. If you look closely it's chained to the pillar so sadly, I did not get to ring it.)

(So we were at the temple around 9 at the latest, did our thing, checked it out. And we began to wonder if there would be a service and if so, what time. As time passed more and more people slowly began showing up and there were a few people sitting inside the temple. So, we hung out and I tried to do the old man squat they do in Korea. I just couldn't quite hack it. Maybe I'm not old enough yet.)

(Service, that is the best word I can use to describe it. There was a pamphlet for each of the visitors and instead of a Hymn book, there was a chant book. The two monks in the middle led the chants. Pretty freaking sweet...)

(To see chanting visit here: http://vimeo.com/23516013)

(While the service was occurring, other people were outside eating. Again, all I can compare it to is ham at church after the Easter Sunday service. All vegetarian since Buddhists don't believe in harming any animals.)

(Reverse view with the statue in the background. Since we had to get back to work we didn't take the time to eat. It was interesting and another cultural experience I am glad to have had.)