Here, there and Everywhere!

Days in Korea: 21

So I'm beginning to think the 'promise' I made to update daily back in December may have been a tad bit 'unrealistic.'  Life can be pretty busy at the best of times and I'm finding it difficult to sit down daily to even take a photo or remind myself to update. So here's an attempt to fill in this week just past.
School has been the 'same, same' as they say here in Korea. It's been relatively uneventful thus far. Teaching Jupiter class, I have 17 bright students to look forward to everyday. Like any classroom, it will always have its challenges, but compared to China, I've got to admit, I'm finding it a cakewalk. It's nice only having to teach two or three classes everyday. It gives me lots of time to prep for the next day and time to just hang out with my students while they're just being 'kids'. I'm still finding it difficult to adjust to some parent's expectations of their children. They push them too far and have a completely unrealistic vision of their children given that most of these kids are 6. Even my Korean co-teacher thinks some of the mothers are a little crazy, but that's just how society is here. You have to push forward in order to succeed and end up in high places; most of these mothers should know better than any of us after all - because they've made it.

So again this weekend I found myself playing tourist (I have so little time to soak up the sights, I need to make the most out of my days off!) We ended up going to the most famous palace in Seoul Gyonbokgung Palace. It was cheap to enter (3000W) and we spent several hours soaking up the sights. Somethings reminded me of similar places I've been in Shanghai; but no matter where I travel, there always seems to be a little ambiguity. The weather was beautiful and it was an excellent place to take photos (I mean, it did make the cover photo of Lonely Planet's guide to Seoul!). The mountains off in the distance behind the palace were beautiful and reminded me of just how diverse the landscape of this country really is. After leaving the palace, we basically walked a giant circle around the outside of the grounds (trying to get to the mountain) and ended up stumbling upon the Blue House (Korea's version of the White House). Security was tight. There were cops and guards stationed about every two feet up and down the entire length of street surrounding the property. According to Lonely Planet this was for good reason as well - apparently some North Koreans got within a few hundred yards while executing an assassination plot!

Gyonbokgung Palace

Entrance to Gyonbokgung Palace

On Sunday (again another warm and sunny day!) I found myself venturing back to the land of Buddha. This is actually not as easy as you would think, because Korea and Seoul in particular are attempting to bring about a modern revival of Korean Buddhism. Korean Buddhist temples are few and far in between. Christianity and churches are the norm and dominate here. The temple we went to (Jogyesa) was actually located just down the street from the palace! The grounds of this temple were humble; lots of empty space with not a heck of a lot going on compared to other temples I have visited. The shrines inside the monastery were beautiful. This temple in particular is the only one in Korea to have a shrine dedicated to the three Buddhas. Gilded in Gold, surrounded by tapestries, with lotus lanterns decorating the entire ceiling, I was glad I took my shoes off and ventured inside. It's views like these that made me want to come back to Asia in the first place! 

3 Buddhas at Jogyesa Temple

Probably my favorite photo of the day, a close up of  Bhaisaiya or medicine Buddha for short. 

After mellowing out at the temple for awhile and enjoying the sunshine, we decided to make our way over to Insadong - an outdoor hand craft traditional market street. There was so much to take in here (and so many people!) if you're ever in Seoul looking for some good hand crafts, silks, parchments, cards, jewelery etc. to take back with you, Insadong is the place to go! I know I will be going back here when I have money, and when I need to pick up some goodies to send home :)

Cheers for now, and I'll try not to wait a week in between updates. For now I'll leave you with a picture that makes me smile, almost as much as the 'raise the roof Buddha' (yes, that one) that I brought back from Shanghai. I present to you (I know, his stance means something important, but let me have this one... ) 'Jive Buddha' and his trusty elephant!

 Keep Smiling,
Sarah.