Well, I been busy. The uncle is keeping me running all over the country and I got lots to write about, including a trip south to Kyongju, but right now there’s just this one cool thing we did last night that I don’t want to forget.

Buddha’s B-day is coming up and I’ve been lamenting the fact that Dave and I are going to be in Japan that day because I’ve yet to see a Buddha’s B-day ceremony/celebration in Korea even though I’ve been here 2 years. This is my last year here and like I keep promising myself: I ain’t coming back once I leave so I better do everything I want to do now.

Yesterday, being Sunday, Dave was around and the three of us piled on a bus bound for Itaewon where Bob made some minor expenditures and where Dave and I went nuts. I’m still mystified. I mean, we go there, what?, once a week? And we never spend like that. Especially Dave, who ordered up some custom-made shoes, bought some brand-name shirts on the grey market, and totally collaborated with me to buy all new luggage, which we had to cart on the bus to home looking like a couple of tourists.

Anyway, it didn’t take long to spend all that money so we were home by 5:30 or so and looking forward to dinner at the soojaebee restaurant in our neighborhood. About that time Dave happens to mention that he read in the paper the Buddha’s B-day parade and celebration was going on downtown that evening.

Wooo! We’re there!

We all scarfed soojaebee then Bob and I veered down into the subway while Dave went home. Party Pooper. Said something about not wanting to go all the way back downtown.

We arrived on the scene just as the parade was finishing up at Chogyesa (Chogye temple). There were streams and streams of people dressed in hanbok (traditional clothing) carrying candlelit lotus lanterns. Occasionally a traditional percussion group clamored by. It was great! I couldn’t stop smiling at all the colorful lanterns illuminating the darkness, carried by crowds in brightly colored silk. So beautiful. Passerby smiled and bowed with their hands together at me: Buddha and I are one. A woman gave me a little lotus flower made from a dixie cup and pink paper leaves that were glued on by hand. A string was attached at the top for carrying or hanging.

After the parade ended, the street started clear a bit, revealing a group of women in hanbok surrounding a section of pavement covered in lit candles. We went over to see people lighting and re-lighting them all, and I could see that all of the candles, which extended on for about 1 block, spelled out words I didn’t understand.

I took pictures. I had my big hurker lens and the wimpy little tripod I bought at REI this summer, whose legs are only about 8 inches long and which has a velcro strap you can use to secure the camera to the side of a tree or something. There was a step-ladder in front of that whole city block’s worth of candles, so I strapped the big ole camera to that and tried hard to get a good shot. There were all these other photographers walking in and out of my way so I doubt if I got any.

Later we ducked into the temple itself where there were food booths set up all over, like at the county fair. Samples were given. There was one tea made from ginger ale and these things that looked like the fruit of cacti that was soo good. I almost bought some then remembered how busy we've been and how quickly things spoil.

Above all the food stalls and all the people milling about were thousands of lit lanterns hanging in neat rows. Absolutely beautiful. There were scaffolding used to reach the cords to which the lanterns were tied, and I was all over them with my velcro strap setting up shots. I think I got some good ones; I hope so. When the film ran out - I didn’t bring an extra role - I just enjoyed the sights.

There were people dressed up as bogus Bhuddas and scary spirits who acted out their roles and asked for money. Everywhere Buddhists were carrying out ritual and all around the temple grounds, amidst all the odor exuded by the food stalls, was the calming fragrance of incense. Out on the street again a stage had been set up and young pop stars were singing. At some point they released a giant inflated lotus flower that was fired into the sky with a big boom, like a rocket. It sailed up large and pink against the night sky and I thought, "There’s gonna be a UFO sighting tonight." And then I thought about how it would eventually fall, maybe on somebody’s house.

We stuck around until the end. People were all very friendly and in good spirits. Everyone matched my smile with one of their own, another foreigner latched onto Bob and talked his ear off, and a Korean man introduced himself to us, gleaming with pride that his cousin was the MC on the stage where the huge pink lotus flower had floated away from.

Just as everyone was disappearing into the darkness, it started to rain. Bob and I ducked into a coffee shop for awhile to avoid both the crowds rushing toward the subway and the pelting drops. After awhile, we left and rode all the way home on an empty train.

What a great night. For Bob, as he keeps repeating, it was a once in a lifetime thing. Heh. Me too!