The most amazing Buddha yet!

I had heard there was a lovely Buddhist temple in the city of Chonan, which is not that far from me, so fellow teacher Mary and I set out to see it. When you arrive at the bus station in Chonan you are greeted by this .......... !! Hey - they're very proud of their walnuts, OK?

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• The temple is pretty high up on a mountain and set back. I didn't COUNT these stairs, I FELT them!!
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  


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  It was a beautiful spring day and trees were in bloom.

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And then you come to the clearing...................... and there he is, in all his glory. Such a beautiful site.

And inside the temple is incredibly beautiful as well...................

...... more intricate carvings then I've seen anywhere else!

And after the temple, we hung out in the sculpture garden I shared with you already followed by some great food at a very Western restaurant called VIPs. It was a good day.

big love to all

p.

Our trip to Jenju - home of Hanji paper

So a whole slew of us foreign teachers went on an adventure recently that was more of a fiasco in the end. But it's worth telling you about the city of Jenju, because it is a huge source of pride for the Korean people. Any of you who have ever shopped the beautiful hand made papers at Blue dowtown Asheville or other places, may have been admiring Hanji paper; hand made Korean paper whose history goes back thousands of years and it's uses range screens for windows and doors to tables, to armor, to beautiful lighting. It can last up to 1,000 years. I am so in love with the paper that I'm into creating a variety of paper mache projects with it.

So Jenju, the city we visited, has the most famous paper of all. All Hanji paper is made from mulberry, and all is made in basically the same way, but the water in Jenju is said to be very pure and make the paper even more special.

So here's Johann (S. Africa), Mary (US), Maria (S. Africa) and me on the bus.

Nick and Sarah were also there (although clearly these are not pictures from the bus) and I want you to meet them because they are a really sweet couple from Canada.

The whole point of visiting Jenju is a trip to the 'traditional village' where all sorts of Korean made stuff is for sale. It was a quaint, very well done, touristy kind of place...................... the kind of place Korean families and couples go on a holiday weekend or Sat. Sun. jaunt.

We, unfortunately, chose to go on a National Holiday, and had no idea what we were getting in for. The traffic on the roads was horrible and I spent 7 hours on the bus traveling and 3 hours on the ground shopping. Not a good ratio! It was a cloudy day that eventually led to rain and that just added more melancholy to the situation. Ah well. Lesson learned. Either stay home or plan to spend the night!!

When we first entered the village they were doing a fashion show on a fairly large stage. That was fun!

And there was a Catholic cathedral there. A slightly rare sight in S. Korea.

I love the tiles everywhere; I think they're beautiful. I sooo want to do my roof like that.

My trip to Jenju gave me great appreciation for the Hanji paper and when we decided to do a special Hanji Project with our families one Saturday, I felt like I 'got it'Great fun - we went to a Hanji artist's studio very close to my school, and each family made a 'tea table' to take home. Yes, I got to make one too! What a great momento, eh? These are a sort of 'cardboard' form covered with Hanji paper.

Next............ my trip to another Buddist temple, but this time Buddha's sitting outside with the mountains as his backdrop!

love to all. p.

Buddha's birthday and the Lantern Festival

Welcome to Buddha's birthday celebration in Seoul. It's called the Lantern Festival and it was awesome!!!

This festival is, of itself, worthy of a trip to Korea! You have to get there early though. There is so much to do that it is difficult to fit it all in one day. There are over 100 booths of activity to keep you busy during the day and most of it is FREE. They provide materials to make your very own lotus lantern, wood carving paintings, clay work, small lotus buds and on and on. It was GREAT fun!

Here you pour water over a Baby Buddha to declare your intentions for the year.

Here we learn about 'traditional' tea ceremony.

And then there is the temple itself which is quite beautiful............

But the parade at night is the spectacular culmination of the day. Over 100,000 lanterns light the streets of Seoul. Since pictures are worth a 1,000 words........................ here's a few images from that magical night.

And this last image is the sweet face of a young monk. His mother (I am assuming) was close at hand and she was beaming with pride.

Big Buddha love to all!!!

I just have to share this story.

I was commissioned to make 3 skeletons about 9 years ago by a buddy of mine who was working on "Casper the Musical" in London.

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from a guy named Nigel who somehow knew I had made them and wanted to talk to me about them. It turns out the show went belly up after a 2-3 year run and they were housing all the stuff in a warehouse for some time. Finally, they decided to bail and all the stuff went in various directions with this guy Nigel becoming the owner of the skeletons. They have been reincarnated and are doing some great work. That's what the link is about. Mr. Green!!! Nigel said he is just having so much fun with them that he just HAD to find their 'mum' and let her know they were doing just fine.

So if you've got a minute, please check out this site. Mr. Green is a happening dude!
http://www.letsgetalife.co.uk/

love to all.
p.

Man, it has been awhile....... I trust this finds everyone enjoying the many delights of Spring!! I am feeling rather blissful myself; utter joy with the end of winter and many less layers of clothes. There is this phenomena however called "yellow dust" which is pollution that floats here from China and causes people to wear the funny little white masks that they wear in the Winter when they have a cold. But that's almost over.

I always wanted to share this image with you. On my first day in Korea, as I was being shown around our neighborhood, I was told to remember this sign because this is MY corner. Here, you turn left, and my apartment is two blocks down on the right. The laundry is perfect isn't it!!

Here are two of my favorite food things in my life. First is a typical lunch at school. Ya got your rice, your soup, and three sides, including the obligatory kimchee. Next is my favorite dessert place where I go if I need that kind of treat. And this is what I like to order - but always with someone else, because it's way too much for me. Ya got two scoops of ice cream, two scoops of whipped cream (the real deal), various fruits (and they always throw tomato in there which of course is very weird to me) and a lovely waffle in the middle. Yum, Yum.




























School is busy. I still enjoy it. I try to get better. Played an April Fool's gag on my 4th grade class and one little girl who is very smart but VERY quiet and seldom cracks a smile, actually laughed. I've never seen such a big smile on her face! It made me very happy. Ahhh, it's those little moments.


This was Easter week, so we had Scavenger hunts, made Easter baskets and, with my 5th graders, had a silly hat contest.


I really love teaching this age group. They are smart and sweet. The 3 boys are absolutely inseperable; a regular 3 musketeers.

This young lady is Ha Young. She will probably be president one day. Brilliant young lady. The guy who made the 'silliest' hat is Soo Min. Cute as hell, charming if he wants to be............ don't think he'll be president.

Below to the left is Do Hyun. Sweetest girl I know......... and smart.

Gotta show you my mop shoes!! They are soooo cool. Mopping is so much more fun this way. Just slip them on and skate away!!

If I were to open a business when I come back to Asheville it would be one of two things; an import store I would call "Smart Stuff" for some of the well ............ smart stuff!!! I've seen over here, or a Korean restaurant because I love the food so much.......... !!


A touch of Korean spring...............





















Much love to all...................... I'll be sending more soon.


pamella