Day 86: Enchanting & Inspiring

We woke up at the not-so bright and VERY EARLY time of 4:30am this Sunday morning, the time when the Buddhist monks wake up every morning. There was no time for showers (and not sufficient facilities for all us anyways!) and we were bussed back to the main temple for early morning meditation. The monks meditate every morning at 5am, who believe that this time of the day is the most calm and quiet and peaceful and therefore the best time for praying to Buddha.

We rejoined the girls in the main temple and were all given small mats and began the meditation ceremony. The monks led us through their morning ritual, which involves breathing exercises and deep concentration to be able to release all your sufferings and offer yourself to the paradise of Buddha. The ceremony, in total, was about an hour and a half long, and was sooooo relaxing and calming and very spiritual, even for non-Buddhists. Buddhists believe that there are 108 different kinds of suffering in life, and so every morning you have to bow and kneel before Buddha 108 times so that you can release each of those pains. This would certainly take a while...but we were all willing to give it a go and be 'at one' with Buddha and the temple monks. We all had to do 54, as the Master Monk thought that was enough for us...hehe. (still standing up and kneeling down again 54 times is quite a lot!) After the meditation we were lead outside (into the pouring rain, but none of us cared) to join the monks for morning exercise. This consists of about 15-20 minutes of stretching, breathing, and jumping to 'wake up the body' and release all your pains. It was beautiful, and again with the lush green settings and the rains and mist, you couldn't have asked for a more enchanting atmosphere or more inspiring setting!

It was breakfast after this, which was several vegetarian dishes served with this oatmeal that most of us did not enjoy very much. It's unsweetened and definitely has a flavour that one has to acquire, but it was part of the experience anyways! We then had about 2 hours or so for free time, so all of us used the time to wander around the temple complex, take some photos, and just soak up the Buddhist atmosphere. I wish you could have been there to see and experience it for yourself because words and pictures could never do it justice! After this it was time to say goodbye to the kind, gentle, and hospitable monks, and the beautiful Daewon-sa Temple, and get back on the bus.

We drove over to some green tea plantations near where the festival was so that we could wander through the green tea plants. I was just expecting some farmer's field full of bushes, but it was completely different! The plantations are built as this STEEP green terraces that rise up the slopes of the hills (kinda like what the Incas used to build in the Andes!) The terraces rise soooo far up the hills, you can't even see the top of them, especially with all the mist. We got to wander through the tea fields and the terraces, and climbed up all over the hills exploring the lush green paradise. It was breathtakingly beautiful, even though it was crowded with Korean tourists, and we got some great shots of the terraces! I could've easily wandered through the green tea terraces all day, but we had to get back on the bus after less than an hour.

We had lunch in Boseon, where a whole restaurant was reserved just for us. The locals seemed so excited to have foreigners visiting, and even the town mayor came out to meet us and welcome us to his town! We enjoyed our lunch and then it was time to leave. We drove an hour and a half to the city of Mokpo to catch our train back to Seoul. We were all tired and wet and dirty, but no one wanted to go home. Our weekend was so incredibly amazing that each and every one of us were moved and touched by this incredible cultural experience. We hopped back on the KTX and sailed north across Korea back to Seoul. The scenery was beautiful again, green misty hills and lush rich farmland dotted by small towns and cities. Travelling by train, I've always believed, is the most romantic way to see a country, and I couldn't have asked for a more comfortable or picturesque journey.

We arrived back in Seoul, and had some dinner at Bennigan's. We were all craving Western food after our vegetarian, simple meal weekend, so we all ordered giant meals and gorged on the meat and carbs! Oh, us Westerners are so gluttonous! :-) The gang decided to play a little joke on me, and (without telling me) told the servers that it was my birthday (even though it's actually in August!) Half way through our meal a crew of Bennigan's servers suddenly showed up at the table with a giant green leprechaun hat for me to wear, and proceeded to sing a Korean birthday song and take our picture! So hilarious!!! At the end of the meal I was presented with a birthday card with our picture, and the whole gang signed me 'birthday wishes' in my card. Too funny!

After dinner we wandered around Kyobo books for a while, and then headed on home. This weekend was one of the best of my life, and was certainly an experience that I'll never forget as long as I live. I feel so blessed and so lucky to have had such an opportunity to experience something so inspiring and so beautiful! I'm so thankful that I came to Korea - I would have never experienced anything like this back home in Canada. I've only been in Korea three months but I feel like I've seen and done and experienced SO MUCH already! My eyes have truly been opened to the wonders that can be found outside Western lands and culture, and feel like my 'world vision has been expanded' so much. In many ways I've learned more about the world and about life and other cultures in just three months than what I ever learned in my 5 years at university, or my 25 years of life in Canada. To be able to explore and discover all of this has been truly amazing, and I'm not ever going to take it for granted!