Unmunsa, the Nun's Hermitage (6/10)

Unmunsa, a Buddhist nun's temple in the mountains near Daegu

T H E   O N E   T H I N G   that every person from the previous year's trip told me to do was to talk Dr. Yi into taking us to Unmunsa, a special Buddhist temple in the mountains near Yeungnam. They all said it was their favorite visit of the entire trip, so of course I was interested, given how much I'd enjoyed the other temples we'd seen throughout our travels. My other travelmates had heard the same thing, and we'd been collectively working on convincing Dr. Yi since our arrival in Daegu. Unmunsa wasn't an official scheduled visit, but because we had another day off due to the weekend, Dr. Yi finally caved and consented to taking us. Since her business from the previous day had kept her away, our plan was to catch a bus to the temple (whose location Dr. Yi explained to Dr. Tessman over the phone) and meet up with her there.

Daegu's transit system-- not at all confusing or intimidating, right?!

It was certainly nice to have Dr. Tessman as a guide-- even though he didn't know much more Korean than the rest of us, he had been to the area several times, and had the added benefit of being a Respected Authority Figure and whatnot. That, and the fact that I was far from traveling alone, calmed my trepidation towards the Korean transit system after my struggles from the previous day. Things did go a bit rockily for a while-- our bus's departure lept forward an hour unannounced, and Dr. Yi's travel plans got delayed-- but we all ended up safely at the temple's gates before too long.

Back to Tongdosa (6/9)

The entrance to Tongdosa Temple, shot on my first visit

T O N G D O S A   T E M P L E   was easily my single most favorite destination from my entire time abroad. My last visit blew me away, and by this time I'd made up my mind that I needed to go back. I'd seen a particular symbol in the museum of historical Buddhist art there that stuck with me to such a degree that I knew I needed to return to capture it. The symbol was a stylized lotus design, used as a roof-end tile like the one pictured below. I wanted to record it better than the crude sketch I'd made in my notes from memory in order to turn it into a tattoo to commemorate my travels. Unsurprisingly, none of my trip mates were interested in going back to a place we'd already been, but the thought of traveling alone through a foreign country on a mission of my own design just added to my eagerness. When I heard we'd have our Saturday to ourself, I knew I had to go back to Tongdosa, and that's exactly what I did.

source: Konstantin Photography

I explained my plan to Dr. Yi, who actually had to do some traveling of her own to take care of some business. She offered me some basic directions on how to get to the temple via the train system, assuring me it was a simple task. We went together to the train station near the university, where her train promptly departed, leaving me alone in an unknown place. I killed time before my train arrived by people-watching, taking particular pleasure in waving at anyone who made eye contact on a passing train. I got a lot of elated return waves, especially from younger people; these positive interactions, although fleeting, made me feel very much connected and not at all as alone as I was.

Friday in Daegu (6/8)

O U R   R E T U R N   T O   Yeungnam University meant a return to classes, the first of which was not Dr. Tessman's international affairs class, but instead a Korean drumming class led by some of our peers.

A drum circle on a college campus? Get out!

Here's what the drumming sounded like:

We were each given a drum to use, and divided up to learn our parts. I was given the buk drum, the smaller circular double-headed drum (seen in the center of the video above). We learned several separate rhythms from the set in the video, and then learned the cues to move between them, and were given their general ordering. The small gong is the leader-- its shrill pitch can be heard easily above the others, which is useful for signalling transitions. Although we were given simplified parts, I must say we sounded pretty good all together!

Andong, Part II (6/7)

Our group assembles outside our camp site

W E   A W O K E   T H E   next morning to the peaceful Korean countryside, rested and ready for another day of touring Korea's past. We boarded our swanky bus for Dosan Seowon, a famous Confucian academy not far away. I was amazed by the skill with which our driver maneuvered our massive bus through the winding and hilly roads of the countryside and was thankful to arrive in one piece! Be sure to check out the video from my last post for a clip of our winding way there!

A picture of a picture of Dosan Seowon

A map of the Seowon's grounds

Dosan Seowon was built in 1574 to protect the teachings of several Confucian scholars who had fled a warring China. It was the home of Yi Hwang, a very influential Korean philosopher of the time who had close connections to the king. It was the site of a very famous national exam given in 1792 to more than 7,000 people. Typically these exams were given in the capital of Seoul, but King Jeongjo sent government officials to administer the test there in Yi Hwang's honor.

Back In Time To Andong (6/6)

Our opulent tour bus

O U R   A D V E N T U R E S   A G A I N   left the classroom, this time towards a traditional Confucian village known as the Hahoe Folk Village in the Andong province. Dr. Yi took back over for this portion of our trip, lecturing to us about Confucianism and its role in Korean culture on our way to our first destination: a traditional mulberry paper mill.

Korea historically developed paper not long after China, but soon refined its techniques to the point that Korea's paper was renowned as the best in the region. This paper was so durable and adaptable that it spread deeply into Korean culture, permeating such crafts as architecture and fashion. It was therefore a necessary stop on our journey to learn more of Korea's past.

Mountains, Monks, and More Temples (5/26)

C O N T E N T S :

P A R T   I .                    P A R T   I I .              P A R T  I I I .

The foot of Mount Geumjeong

P A R T    I .

H I K I N G   A   mountain at the crack of dawn isn't exactly my preferred activity of choice after a crazy night out, but with my time at Hongbeopsa quickly coming to an end and no other such opportunities in sight, you better believe I took this chance! Not only was this our only opportunity to try the Korean national sport of hiking in ever-beautiful Busan, it was also our only time off before the impending events of Buddha's Birthday and all the responsibilities it entailed. And, despite his innumerable obligations and commitments concerning the ceremonies, the head abbot himself, Juje-Sunim (sp?) joined us on the hike! Hiking in such a beautiful country was a treat by itself, but the addition of such venerable companions made the experience an honor of another kind; all of which was before we really knew the significance of our surroundings and the access our company was to grant us... but I'm getting ahead of myself!

Teaching, Learning, Singing: Korean Culture (5/25)

C O N T E N T S :

T e a c h i n g                     L e a r n i n g                    S i n g i n g

I .   T e a c h i n g

We got some fans!

 T H E   F I R S T  thing on our agenda was a return to Gwangnam Elementary in Busan to teach some more English. Everything went infinitely faster and smoother this second time around, due in no small part to the fact that I got to teach the older students instead of the younger ones. Our running, yelling, and games were replaced with conversations, which I hope was as rewarding for the students as it was for me! I got to talk to my group about what they wanted to be in the future, which really flaunted their language proficiency with tenses, professions, and the like.

There were two students whose stories stuck out to me, both of them young women. The first was obsessed with marriage and family life, and wouldn't stop talking about how excited she was despite her young age. I must have run into such people in my years in elementary school and either not realized it or not remembered them, because for some reason the thought of such a young person having such an adult focus caught me completely off guard. I don't know that many people with similar aims even now in college! I found myself wondering about gender roles in American and Korean culture while I fought back the urge to tell the first young woman about all the exciting possibilities out there for someone like her beyond marriage when the next student--also a young woman--spoke with equal excitement about her bright future as an astronaut. It felt good to encourage both of them after realizing that women can dream just as freely in Korea as in America.

From the Future to the Past: Dongguk University & Yangdong Village (5/24)

C O N T E N T S :

D O N G G U K   U N I V E R S I T Y               Y A N G D O N G   V I L L A G E

 

I .  B R E A K F A S T

Breakfast at Hongbeopsa...

...incredible, as usual.

S E E I N G   T H I S  makes me  powerfully nostalgic and reminds me just how special each and every breakfast at Hongbeopsa was. Of course it was incredible simply to be staying at a Korean temple, especially one as lively and enticing as Hongbeopsa, but the temple offered much more than its atmosphere and allure alone. Consider the food, for example: The variety of dishes, textures, tastes, and smells that greeted us each morning in the dining hall added intrigue to the act of breaking one's fast, while the knowledge that each incredible option had been produced by volunteers and was given freely to monk and muggle alike humbled us greatly. The food, therefore, sustained both body and soul, and reminded us that we were incredibly lucky to be in such a privileged position.


Yet the food was just the foundation-- it was the fellowship that truly made each early morning something worth waking up to. You never knew who to expect in the dining hall at dawn-- did my fellow students and travelers roll out of bed, or would I be eating alone? Were the monks off attending to business or were they occupying their reserved table at the front of the hall, waiting to be served special dishes colored by fruit and fresh salad? Or had an army of visitors snuck in while I slumbered, making it hard to find a place to sit and flooding the room with the delightful sounds of the Korean language? Whatever the case, Hongbeopsa's dining hall was always overflowing with intrigue.

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Teaching English in Haeundae, Busan (5/23)

R O A D T R I P ! !

On the road to Haeundae!

TODAY WAS our first trip to teach English at a Korean elementary school-- Gwangnam Elementary in Haeundae, Busan.

Haeundae is a very nice area of Busan, known for its wonderful sandy beach, its colossal bridge, its (superinsaneworldfamous) shopping, and its open-air street markets. And by very nice, I mean extremely clean, wealthy, and prosperous. It is Haeundae that lays claim to the largest shopping mall in the world-- all 15 floors of Shinsegae in Centum City, including an indoor driving range, ice rink, and movie theater. Although I can't attest to the intensity of Shinsegae itself, the community around it was evidence enough for me to agree with Haeundae's hypercapitalistic excellence.

Our trip from the temple to Haeundae was very nostalgic and calming. We'd traveled by road some before today, but not as far, nor during the day. The experience was not unlike a roadtrip in the states: We hopped on the interstate, zipped past an array of other vehicles before an ever-changing backdrop--some rice paddies here, some residential areas there, some factories, high-rises, and other monstrosities breaking the horizon every now an then, increasing in frequency and density as we neared our destination-- and before we knew it, we were in the middle of the city, climbing out of the van that had carried us and into our first immersion learning experience.

The gorgeous school grounds in the middle of the city

Free Flowers, Baby Monks, & B-Boys in Busan! (5/19)

The Baby Monks, sporting their traditional gravel-pattern camouflage.

T H E   F I R S T thing I hear at Hongbeopsa? Children!!
Around 5am, I'm woken from my dreamless first night's slumber by the unmistakable sounds of a heard of children-- ecstatic shrieking and the quick crunch of gravel under many pairs of running feet shot through the calming voices of chaperons. Outside my window, framed by the gorgeous green mountains of Korea, I see the source of the sounds-- BABY MONKS!!!

Our visit to Korea just so happened to coincide with Buddha's Birthday (석가탄신일)-- possibly the largest festival in all of Buddhist culture. Because Korean Buddhism follows the lunar calendar, Big B's B-day falls at a different time every year, most often too early in May for us study aboraders to participate or observe. My group, however, was lucky beyond belief to be present when we were-- Korea explodes with Buddhist energy and excitement in celebration!
Baby Monks (or śrāmaṇera [?]) are but one of many special traditions closely associated with Buddha's Birthday. As a glimpse of ordained monastic life, the 5-6 yr old children of Buddhist laypeople are taken into the temple and treated as fully-ordained sunims, or monks, for ~21 days-- their heads are shaved, they wear traditional robes and participate in ceremonies, partake in traditional monk meals, and generally get a feel for monastic life. My friend Hayes said it best when he compared these little guys to Vacation Bible School-goers back in the states, although they're far more serious than any VBS kids I know!!

Before long, the wooden gong rang out to signal breakfast time, and my first day in Korea began f'rill!