My dear friends from Korean class, Fran and Caroline took a trip to Seoul over the weekend to see the Lotus Lantern Festival! We stayed in an adorable guesthouse.
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| Cute chair, Fran! |
Then, we walked around Hongdae and went to the Sheep Cafe, "Thanks Nature."
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| The sheep were in a pen outside behind Caroline and Fran. |
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Caroline got me hooked on Black Milk Tea Lattes... yummy!
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| Fran got an Oreo Mixture! |
Next, we went checked out a "Buddhist chant rally." We didn't really know what was going on, or what they were chanting, but it was interesting. We saw people in hanboks passing out lanterns. We figured out later that many of these people were just congregating before the big parade.
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| Yay lanterns! |
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| There were so many people at the Buddhist Chant Rally! |
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We were curious as to what was going on! :)
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At night we went near Dongdaemun and watched the Lantern Parade. It was so colorful and pretty!
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| Monks! |
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| Women monks! |
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| Fire breathing dragon! |
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| It's not what it looks like...it is the Buddhist symbol! |
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| Buddhist chants! Pretty green hanboks. |
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| Caroline particularly admired these Korean male costumes! |
Ever since the Sewol ferry accident, many festivals around the country have been cancelled. Luckily, this festival still went on, but it was modified a bit to commemorate the students who lost their lives. We saw many floats that said "Sewol" on them in Korean, and some people carrying lanterns with names of missing students on them. What a terrible tragedy.
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| This float is talking about the Sewol ferry accident. |
After the parade, we headed back to Hongdae for some Korean BBQ. We ended up having Hun Jeh Samgyeopsal--Smoked Pork Belly. It was soooooo savory and delicious!
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| I was a happy camper! |
Thanks for a wonderful weekend in Seoul, Fran and Caroline! You were great travel buddies! Thanks for the memories!
