After three hours, I arrived in East Soul and, after one hour and a few more subway transfers, arrived at my first interview.  I was sweaty and due to lack of sleep (and a nice little pimple that showed up the previous day beneath my right eye) my eyes looked like a 53 year old on a three-day drinking binge.

Left the first interview and made a beeline to the nearest coffee shop before heading to the second interview.  With everything finished, I collapsed on the bus, only to find myself sitting beside a couple who desperately wanted to watch the television show on full volume — this despite me saying “I hate you” in the international language of The Glare.

After spending 14 hours on buses, trains, and their respective stations, I was ready for bed.  But a friend called and we met for some beers.  Then friend #2 called and we had more beer.  Then friends #3, #4, and #5 called and we headed to a singing room.

After singing Patti Page and Barry Manilow (both to 100 scores), I finally headed home.

On Sunday, a friend and I went to Gounsa — a very nice temple near Andong.  I really enjoyed it and can’t believe I waited so long to see it.

You can view the full photo set here.

Related posts:

1. Donghwasa Temple Near the top of Mt. Palgongsan is Donghwasa Temple.  It...
2. Bulguksa Temple I cannot do justice to Bulguksa Temple… It was originally...

So for Buddha’s Birthday, I decided to make a last minute trip.  It was very, very interesting, even if it wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the first time.  They were doing construction on the enormous 33m Buddha, so that was a mess.  And while I’m a lantern’s biggest fan, I don’t particularly care for walls of them that prevent me from seeing anything else.

In addition: I didn’t eat before I left.  My legs were extremely tired.  And, there were no seats on the one-hour bus ride home (not to mention that a group of really loud American college kids got on the bus right before me, making me a recipient of many angry stares as I was automatically lumped together with the other white people standing right beside me).

It did not help me achieve a state of nirvana.

But, I’m very glad I went.  It was a special day in many ways.

You can view the full photo set here.

*You can now click on the first thumbnail for a small pop-up lightbox that makes it easier to skim the photos.

Related posts:

1. Donghwasa Temple Near the top of Mt. Palgongsan is Donghwasa Temple.  It...

In my former life working in politics, I attended many (MANY) parades.  As a rule, I don’t like them… I’ve been scarred ever since I was forced to march for Joe Lieberman with two interns and a Joe-mobile in front of John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, and their enormous staff.  (NB, this was BEFORE either Lieberman or Edwards took their respective nose-dives into meaninglessness… or, at least before Edwards’.)

Aside from the beautiful lanterns and beautiful hanbok — both of which make me incredibly happy — it was so nice to see so many smiles.  I don’t typically get too many smiles from Koreans.

It’s not like Tennessee where you have to smile and say hello to everyone you see.  And it’s not like Connecticut where you have to smile and say hello to everyone you see (who has the same skin color and socio-economic status)… I just don’t get too many hello’s in Korea.  And I’m okay with that (really I am!), but it was nice to have an hour or so of endless waves.

I was also excited to try out my new Canon s90 camera, which I paid way too much money for at the Yongsan Electronics Market — learning the hard way that sometimes free trade agreements can be quite wonderful.

I’ve always carried cheap point-and-shoots, so I was pretty pumped to finally upgrade to something with more flexibility without being enormous and forcing me to carry the badge of Fake Professional Photographer.

So, here it is.  You can view the full set here (40 photos).

Related posts:

1. Lotus Lantern Festival 2010 in Seoul This weekend I spent some time in Seoul to check...

It was very interesting in comparison to American festivals… by that I mean it was A LOT less annoying.  Of course, I can never figure out if I’m less annoyed because no one is talking to me or if it’s actually less annoying.

I will give Korea the benefit of the doubt on this one.  It was a great festival with booths on lantern making, temple stays, books, etc.  Plus, instead of serving fried Snickers bars, they had healthy temple food.

One of the best parts was getting to see a traditional tightrope-walking performance — called jultagi or 줄타기.  I had seen this in movies, but never live… and to channel Annie Hall, it was pretty neat!

You can see the full photo set here.

Related posts:

1. Lotus Lantern Festival Parade After two long days in Seoul walking more than I...
2. Bulguksa Temple I cannot do justice to Bulguksa Temple… It was originally...
3. Seoul Olympic Park Giving into Olympic fever, I went out to visit Olympic...

It was originally built it 528 A.D., but expanded (in its current form) in 751 A.D.

It is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is impressive on it’s own right… (there aren’t many American UNESCO World Heritage Sites).

My photos could never convey the importance of this temple.  From what I know (which isn’t much), this temple was THE TEMPLE during (at least part of) the Silla Dynasty.

So, I’ll let the photos do what they will… although I was not allowed to take pictures at any of the actual temples (i.e., the Buddhas).

Related posts:

1. Donghwasa Temple Near the top of Mt. Palgongsan is Donghwasa Temple.  It...
2. my weekend — two interviews, a temple, and a songroom As usual, I got out of work at 11pm on...
3. Adventures in Yeongju, Daegu, and Gyeongju So, I’d been planning my trip to Gyeongju all week. ...

The original structures of Donghwasa Temple were built in 493 A.D., and it was expanded in 832 A.D. — all during the 992 year reign of the Silla Dynasty.

You can read more about the temple here.  I’ll let the pictures do the rest.

See the full photo set here.

Related posts:

1. Bulguksa Temple I cannot do justice to Bulguksa Temple… It was originally...
2. Buddha’s Birthday — Donghwasa Donghwasa is probably my favorite temple in Korea.  I love...
3. my weekend — two interviews, a temple, and a songroom As usual, I got out of work at 11pm on...