Springtime, Rain and Buddha’s Birthday

Today, I come to you live from a coffee shop near my apartment. Coffee shops are a very popular trend in South Korea. There are many chains (like the one I am currently in) but also many locally owned cafes with very cute themed decor. You can see both young and old clientele frequent these places and sit for hours just talking over 1 cup of coffee/latte – not unlike the coffee shops I used to work at back during University and high school days. I try to avoid cafes, because of our dear friend Coronavirus, but my internet is very spotty in my apartment, and decided to not work this weekend. So, here I am, with a tiramisu latte (yum!) and an oreo cream cake (double yum!) and jamming to salsa music – here’s hoping nobody notices me dancing in my seat, nor hears me start singing “Tu amor me hace biennnnnnn” outloud…

Spring time and Rain

Today it is raining! For some, this would not be a delightful event, but for me… I rejoice when it rains. Today’s rain is the perfect light and cool drizzle that I love for taking strolls and dancing without an umbrella (Queue Mom’s eye roll).

I believe I can count the times it has rained since I have arrived in South Korea on 1 hand… The rain helps to clear the skies of the pollution and yellow dust that flies over from China’s factories. Many of my colleagues have been commenting about how little yellow dust we have had this season… this is attributed to China shutting down many factories to help contain the spread of Coronavirus.

My colleagues also comment often on the weather in general. Some will laugh, put on a serious expression and say “Summer is coming” in the same ominous tone as “Winter is coming” (Game of Thrones). Summers in Daegu are hot and humid. I hear rumors that they are even more humid than North Carolina and Florida… I’m definitely *not* looking forward to experiencing this… I currently keep my windows open to get fresh air circulating within my apartment all the time, but I imagine within this next week I will have to finally turn on the air conditioner that I thankfully have. I may even need to invest in a personal hand fan to carry on the public transportation. This will also mean I need to get as much hiking in over the next weeks and hope I can finally go visit the beaches this summer.

Until summer descends upon us, I will be taking as many spring flower pictures that I can. Here are some from this week’s explorations.

Buddha’s Birthday

Thursday was Buddha’s birthday, and was observed as a public holiday. The day is determined by the lunar calendar, but each observing country considers varying methods. For Korea, the date is determined as the 8th day of the 4th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Generally, the day of celebration consists of festive events at the temples, and breakfast and lunch being served to any who visited the temples.

Throughout the week leading up to this holiday, one will see beautifully colored paper and plastic lotus lamps hanging on the streets of Buddhist temples. Many of these lamps will have strips of paper hanging from them, where you may write your name and the hope you hold in your heart. At night, these lamps light your path, and the scene is lovely.

On Thursday, I was lazy most of the day, but decided to venture out in the late afternoon to see the temple and to read a book my brother gave me for Christmas (Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick) by the peaceful lake I frequent. While I still had sunlight to read by, I could hear the beomjong (large Buddhist bell) tolling in the background. It was a beautiful moment (minus the cars whizzing by).

팔공산 (Palgong Mountain)

On Friday, I went to 팔공산 (Palgong Mountain), the biggest mountain in Daegu. It is on the far northeast of the city. I left my apartment at 6 AM, and after 2 buses and getting off (accidentally) 2 stops early, I arrived at the beginning of the mountain trail. It was a 2 hour trip for 1,250 ₩ (about $1).

The mountain trail was very well done. It was a very wide trail, where you could opt to take stairs or walk along the road. There were side trails you could take, but no signs telling you where they went (I stayed on the main trail). The trail leads you to a beautiful temple, with lovely flowers. As it was just 1 day after Buddha’s Birthday celebration, the lanterns were still hanging.

After stopping to catch my breath (for the 100th time), and admiring the bright colors and peace of this space, I continued hiking upwards. I had thought that the walk thus far wasn’t all that terrible. In fact, the elderly were speeding on past me… like the Roadrunner beep-beeping past a tumbleweed (I was the tumbleweed). And then the steep stairs hit me. This was no longer a friendly hike.. this was now an intense upwards stair climb. I was not the only person stopping to try to catch their breath… I was not the only one stopping every 2 minutes and looking up at the sky questioning the meaning of life…

And then the beautiful lanterns began lining the pathway again… this meant another temple was lurking nearby. I began to consider each lantern as an onlooker cheering us all on during a race.

I eventually made it up to the top of this peak (not the highest peak on this mountain, by the way) after about 3-3.5 hours from my start time of 8 AM. This temple was buzzing with prayers, and visitors were taking off their shoes, grabbing a mat, and getting on their knees to join in. I walked past, and continued down stairs that I thought were leading to the stone Buddha that is well known in this area. Alas, I somehow took a wrong turn, and went too far down another path. I sat and rested on the peak’s edge, with 2 temples in the valleys below me, and hearing the chants and prayers being carried through the wind. This was a very peaceful moment.

I allowed myself to relax for about 20 minutes, eating 1 of the samgak-gimbap (seaweed & rice wrapped goodness) I had bought from the store that morning, and chugging plenty of water. I continued downward, stumbling across another, smaller and quieter temple where 2 kind ladies offered me some cucumber.

Determined to not have to climb back up the way I came, I found (what looked like) a shortcut, back to the main path so I could start heading home. I confidently headed down the road, and then -to my dismay – climbed up another small peak where there was another temple. This was another beautiful, peaceful setting.

I allowed myself some time to appreciate the splendor of this view, and the Buddha garden, and then finally found the off-road, shaded path that lead me downward back to the main trail and back to the buses.

I finally arrived at my apartment around 6 PM, at which time I showered, drank more water, read some more of Nothing To Envy, and fell sound asleep by 8:30 PM.

I am still sore from my hike on Friday (it is now Sunday afternoon), but it was worth it!! I hope to return when the weather permits (ie, when it is not hot and humid out).

Just keep swimming…

I hope you are able to get some fresh air, even if you cannot yet return to your normal routines. We all are sacrificing our “normal”, and I am seeing the positive rewards slowly reflecting here in South Korea. Many people were out hiking on Friday… Perhaps more than I would have preferred given the circumstances… but we all are still wearing our masks, many are wearing gloves, maintaining 2 meter + distance as much as possible, and there was hand sanitizer available at every temple. The country has been reporting less than 15 new cases daily for 2 weeks in a row, and the government is considering loosening it’s social distancing regulations for schools and businesses, albeit with strict quarantine guidelines in place.

Stay healthy, sane, and keep finding joy in the little things! As Dori from Finding Nemo sings, “Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! What do we do? We swiiiim!”