Lotus Lantern Festival 2013 Seoul, South Korea

So glad to be back to blogging! Took a couple of weeks off from seeing sights and focused on getting together with new friends and establishing a new routine and schedule, but enough of that and back to more Korea. This week Darren is gone on a trip to Okinawa, Japan for the military and Emmalyn and I were VERY GRUMPY to be left behind while he enjoyed a beautiful pacific coastline, and as he reminds me often, a very boring military course. :) We girls couldn't let him have all the fun, so we decided to join our friends at one of Seoul's largest and most attended events of the year, the LOTUS LANTERN FESTIVAL. This event is a two-day event comprised of a large parade, delicious street food and of course the main symbols, lotus flowers and lanterns. The event is to celebrate and honor Buddha's birthday and is a set near the Buddhist temple, Jogyesa Temple. 

The Buddhist lantern-lighting ritual, symbolizing wisdom, began in 918 with the Goryeo Dynasty, can't even wrap my mind around that kind of date, and has continued ever since. Today, the parade is to symbolize and promote global communication and harmony. Emmalyn and I enjoyed all the color, culture and kind people. 

Before the parade, we had so much fun walking around the beautiful gardens close by. There were many different traditional performances, but this one was AWESOME!

I am always completely amazed at the garden and landscape here in Korea. I could spend all afternoon leisurely walking around through the beautiful flowers and so could Emmalyn. 

One of the best parts about exploring and adventuring in Korea is all the lovely friends we make along the way. It never fails that someone, or a lot of someones, stops and says hello. While we don't know what they are saying, it is always conveyed with warmth and graciousness. There is never any hostility that we are sharing their beautiful country with them for awhile. One thing I wasn't expecting, and have since learned, is that the average Korean can not distinguish which country we are from. I was expecting to be pegged as Americans very easily and right away, but I have been asked many times, "What is your country?" They just know we are western, but can't determine if we are European, Australian, etc. Yesterday, for the first time I had a man say, "OH, AMERICAN!!!!!! AMERICAN!!" He was very exuberant and joyful about it and bowed to me and it was very unusual, but I will take it! Definitely never had any of that in France! :D

Emmalyn is growing increasingly fond of talking with people and has begun to just accept their pats.  She is especially happy when she encounters another child. 

 We encountered some Buddhist Monks while out and about and decided to take their photo.

Things quickly got out of hand, in a funny way. . . 

The monks decide to share their head with Emmalyn . . . (loving the people in the background)

 Emmalyn isn't sure what to think about wearing a monk head and I couldn't stop laughing long enough to be of any assistance. . . Eli is showing a bit too much interest, because . . . 

Out he goes!

Next time think twice before showing that much interest Elijah!

Thankfully the monk surrendered Eli and we could all go enjoy the parade. These are our lovely friends who were so kind to let me enjoy the two-day event with them while Darren was gone! Blogger shout out to Bob and Teresa Dunning!

We got our lotus and our lanterns!

 Dinner! My lovely friend, Teresa told me about these steamed buns and they were delicious! For all you Coloradans they are almost exactly like Cabbage Pockets! Just with a Korea flair. These are called, Hoppbang (sp.?)

 I learned to write my name in Korean! -Photo by Teresa Dunning

 All the girls of the group and a random guy. --Photo by Bob Dunning

 Teresa and I were able to dress up as traditional Korean brides. photo credit-Bob Dunning

The costumery was beautiful.-Photo by Bob Dunning

 I purchased two beautiful new fans. A large one for myself and a small one for Emmalyn. Packing them away for safe-keeping.

We briefly visited the temple and this was right outside. Everything was literally dripping in lanterns.

The need to take a nap overpowered her interest, maybe next year . . . 

We had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful weather, learning about new cultures and taking in all of the beautiful lanterns. This is one of the reasons we came to Korea with Darren, we wanted the chance to soak up another culture and learn about the way of life for other people. So thankful for my friends who made it possible for me and Emmalyn to go and for all their help and photos! Darren, walking the beach in Japan has nothing on this beautiful festival . . . :)

No visit to Korea, be that literally or travel via blog, would be complete without a trip to Lotte Mart, a large Korean big box store that is only comparable to Wal-Mart and even that is a drastic stretch. I recently saw one blogger describe it as, "Wal-Mart on acid," which I find to be as close a description as any. The Lotte--LO-TAY-- company name owns many businesses in Seoul and around Korea everything from an Amusement Park, Lotte World, which we will hit up soon, to Hotels and even a home shopping channel and fast food restaurant, Lotteria. They also have outlet shops, still very expensive like a high-end department store, but the most popular of the businesses is Lotte Mart. We happen to have one right up the street from our apartment and when we need a few things, it is always a quick walk. The entire lower level is food, household items, deli and even fine wine. We really just went for toilet paper to be completely honest, but ended up spending over an hour just piddling around. They have free samples everywhere. I HONESTLY tried to eat something strange and new, but dropped in on the floor by accident. I took that as a sign. Better luck next time. We wondered through the endless displays of pickled, spiced, and fermented vegetables. In the right hand corner of the picture below, you can see the Tongmaneul (spell check doesn't like that word), or garlic cloves, whole and I assume pickled and of course, you have your traditional Korean Kimchi . . .  lots and lots . . . and lots of Kimchi,  made of fermented vegetables, usually Napa Cabbage, rubbed down with red chile paste, fish sauce and other seasonings, pictured on the left below and according to Health Magazine, one of the world's healthiest foods. It is good for digestive health. Each Korean eats roughly 40 lbs of the staple each year. I will be lucky to ingest 1 lb. I like it, but it is nothing I want in large quantities. Maybe I will buy it and serve it with my lasagna tonight. Go Korean or go home?

Learn more about Kimchi and then go try it.

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi

 Ok, back to Lotte Mart. . . 

One of the most appealing foods I saw at Lotte on my last visit was the Crabs pictured above. I didn't buy them, but they are in the back of my mind for the future. I happen to love the red chillies that they put in everything. It is spicy, but not TOO spicy. More of a warm heat that is quite pleasant.

When you have had enough of the deli and the fish mongers, you can head over to produce. It is all beautiful and I may shop there from now on for my produce. We were having a great time mulling over future shopping plans when we ran into this a giant glass window with a "garden" inside. They were growing what seemed to be all varieties of greens and lettuce. It is quite a modern and maybe slightly unnatural food growing concept, but when you have a country with one of the largest populations living on one of the smallest pieces of land, you have to get creative to sustain life. I can see some of my natural foodie friends groaning, but it really is genius and keeps the masses fed with fresh produce.

The heads of lettuce are sliced off and sent right to the shelf for purchase.

    

Photo credit: Google. I forgot to snap a photo.

        

If you are more in the market for housewares, decorative items, pet supplies, clothing and electronics, this multilevel store has it all, you just need to take you shopping card and head up the escalator. Yep, they have ramp-like escalators and you ride them up to the second level, shopping cart and all. Actually, the man in front of us lost control of his and almost ran us over. Not a pleasant experience for our first uphill shopping trip. Finally, we made it, alive and well, to the top floor. We have been on a toy quest since arriving and I heard that they had a Toys 'R' Us inside. They DID have a small version of the toy store called, "The Toy Box." They had some similarities to Ikea in their home goods and of course all the Korean decor you could want, which for me personally isn't much. ;)

Bins of grains and spices. This reminds me a bit of Whole Foods.

Just an example of a typical Korean grocery store display. Several varieties of dried fish. Im afraid I don't even know their purpose. 

 Many new drink options, all of which I have to translate and usually come up as, "Milk of Banana" and such. In fact, as I have mentioned before, the Koreans are very kind to children and on the subway this weekend, a man and boy gave Emmalyn just that, a little bottle of banana milk just her size. Very sweet . . . the gesture, not the milk.  She clutched that little bottle all the way home. 

 One of my favorite "finds" so far has been this jared, Honey Citron Tea. It is made in Korea, as many teas are, but it comes in a jelly/honey consistency it also has orange peel and pulp in it. It is delicious and very un-tea-like and more of an apple cider feel. Very delicate and fragrant. Darren was not a fan, although he doesn't care for fruit floating in most of his drinks. I, however, was most intrigued and decided it needed a whole photo demonstration. So, below you can see me going through the steps of stirring tea. Haha. I promise that if you ever encounter such an item, you will want to give it a go.

I would say this is the best thing on the menu.

Lotteria Fries: in-joy :)

 On our way home from Lotte Mart, we decided to stop by Lotteria, from what we have heard the Korean version of McDonald's. We really don't eat out much since Emmalyn is such a handful these days and her restaurant behavior is less than stellar, but we can usually handle a fast food joint. Darren learned there was a burger where the bun was made out of rice and was dying to try it. It was a beef bulgogi burger, Korean speak for seasoned, grilled beef, which is very good and probably mine and many other American's go-to Korean food. I usually do the ordering and told Darren I would get him one. I tried the chicken sandwich and somewhere along the lines myself and the cashier had a miscommunication and I ended up ordering 3 sandwiches, three fries (which leave something to be desired) and three drinks. Yep, that was embarrassing for two reasons:  A) There go the Americans with all their food while four Korean friends sit around the same drink with four straws. B) There go the Americans giving their baby soda and fries. UH, no. So we shamefully sat with our pile of food while people took our picture. Yes, we always get our  picture taken wherever we go, mostly because of Emmalyn, but I fear that in this particular instance it had to do with something else; however, I say it is fair since I am running around their grocery stores and city taking pictures of their fish.

This past week we enjoyed an evening at the zoo. It was a wonderful chance to feel like we escaped from the city and experience some beautiful spring air, all nestled into the beautiful mountains surrounding Seoul. The zoo is apart of Seoul Grand Park and it is a very affordable experience, only about 8,000 KR WON total ($8.00 USD) and just 11 subway stops from our front door.

This woman is selling Silkworm pupa, which are boiled, seasoned and eaten as a snack.

These lovely girls were so kind to Emmalyn at the playground. She loved the attention of the big girls.

They were kind enough to pose for a picture. 

We are still so grateful for our time here in Seoul. It is not always a perfect fit, but we love and embrace the changes. We are learning more and more every week, sadly that doesn't include the language, but with time I am sure we will pick up a few more phrases. Thank you all for your interest in our lives and your thoughts and prayers you give us on a regular basis. I wish you could all come see Korea for yourselves one day!