Lantern Festival
Buddha's birthday (May 5th) has brought out the lanterns all over South Korea. Our group took a day trip up to Seoul this past Sunday to watch the parades and enjoy traditional activities. We were blessed with perfect weather.... thanks Buddha. You're the man!

We caught the early train and started off with a nice Western-style breakfast and a few beers in Itaewon (foreigner's district). We then walked through a small parade and toured the vendors. Us girls had our faces painted and I made boxes with some foreign teachers we ran into (but know from Daejeon). We watched a man carve this amazing wooden statue, saw a fan dance show, and stood witness to a prayer ceremony behind dedicated monks in their temple. Many older, married women ("Ajumas") pull out their Hanbouks on special days like this. Men have them too, but usually stick to modern business suits. My tank top got some looks in Daejeon. The smaller parade was fun; lots of people dressed up. We even got to dress up like Kings and Queens and have our photos taken. We also had T-shirts made up with our names in Korean and cool cartoons characters. We bought lanterns and saw a band play. We devoured Subway sandwiches, then perched ourselves on the corner for the BIG PARADE. Lots of pictures at www.zanichild.myphotoalbum.com