Gwallyongsa Temple

Last week I enjoyed a challenging and amazing Korea adventure. I rode about 45 minutes to the small rural village Changyeoung with our Relief Society President, Christina, to visit Lauren, a member of our Branch. She teaches English to Korean school children at an English camp. I have toured the camp before. It's quite impressive. Students spend a week or two here learning English by immersion. The school system buses them in daily. The school has stations that are set up to mimic typical daily experiences. There is a mock restaurant, a theater, an airport and more. It is an inviting environment and a common Korean setting for English study.


Our friend Lauren had a brilliant idea for our visit. We would go to the Gwallyongsa Temple and hike up to the stone Buddha. I have to admit I was a tad nervous. I had heard how difficult these hikes can be. I am not what anyone would call "fit". Add the fact that my co-hikers are 20 and 30 years younger than me, and you may understand my slight apprehension. But I wanted to be a good sport. I wanted to see the temple. I wanted to believe I am not all that old!!! So I committed to join them. I warned them that I may end up stopping and taking photos while they finished the hike, but I was going to give it a try.

It turned out to be one of the best trips of my Korea adventure. I took 65... SIXTY FIVE  pictures. I worked very hard to reduce that number to 33. I had to resist the urge to include all 33 in this blog. So I chose a few select pictures to walk you through our experience.



First we drove for about 15 minutes from Changyeoung through the beautiful green country side. I love that, it does my soul good!! Once we reached the parking area the real adventure began. These are the steps to the temple grounds. These lanterns seem to be everywhere this time of year. Probably because May is when they celebrate Buddha's birthday. There are also many lantern festivals this time of year, many of which are on the water. You can see large "lanterns" in the forms of animals, people, mythical creatures and also scenes portraying well known stories or legends.


At the top of the steps is a covered gate with four painted guardians. Two to your left and two to your right. They are the guardians of the temple. Koreans entering stopped to bow to them. They are often fierce warriors representing north, south, east and west- placed at the gate to protect the temple.




An English speaking monk offered to give us a five minute explanation of the temple (that's why he is pointing to his watch). He told us there were five national treasures located here, protected by the government. I don't remember all five, but I remember it included the wooden Buddha within the temple, their medicine building and the large stone Buddha atop the mountain. He was most anxious to know how we felt about.... his English!!! He served in the Korean army and was in the United states in 1977. He was proud to have retained quite a bit of English. At the end he asked us to rate his English from 1 to 100. Really! He asked us to grade the teacher. I'm sure glad he didn't give us a test. I don't think 3 out of 5 is passing!



I learned even more from signs like this, that are written in Hangul (Korean alphabet) and English. This picture is quite clear in my file but it doesn't look like you will be able to read it on the blog.  To me the most impressive information I read related to the dates. Dates like "the Silla period 1st Century BC to AD 935". Or the hall that was built in 1401 and burned during the Japanese invasion of Korea between 1592-1598. Absolutely amazing!!!

The path was beautiful and not as challenging as I had anticipated. Although it was pretty steep in places and seldom level, I did pretty well. Better going up than down. My co-hikers kept assuring me I wasn't slowing them down and they weren't just waiting for me. Even really good people tell little white lies now and then!. The point is that I did make it. Up and down with no injuries and only two close calls. One time my foot slipped on a small stick. I quickly, but not so gracefully regained control and avoided an embarrassing tumble. The second incident was when I tried to avoid a very steep decline by side stepping and basically placed myself in a position where I couldn't go forward, or backward or sideways for that matter. A quick blackmail picture and a helping hand then all was well.


This is looking down on a group of Korean climbers. They go all out for their hikes. They were dressed in classy hiking gear and carrying walking sticks. They came in a tour bus and there were lots of them, some seemed to be my age or maybe older. The fact that they were also huffing and breathless, even the youngsters, really helped my bruised pride. It was fun to share greetings in Korean, and a few in English.



The historic stone Buddha at the top of the mountain. To us this was  a very
interesting cultural and historical monument, but I was reminded that to the Buddhists we were on sacred ground. That created a feeling of reverence and appreciation for me.  The structures so beautifully Korean, colorful and unique. I felt privileged to share this amazing place. My embarrassment and awkwardness aside, I just felt blessed for this wonderful adventure with two kind young friends in beautiful South Korea..."the land of the morning calm".




What is it about girls and their hair?

 Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer
Hair, flow it, show it  Long as God can grow, my hair

These are a few lyrics from the song "Hair", made famous by the 1968 musical- also named "Hair." I never saw the musical but the lyrics to the song are a flashback to my teen years. They are also on my mind as I share a few thoughts about hair.

 

Women seem to have a love/hate relationship with their hair. We curl it, straighten it, color it and cut it. Always trying to achieve the perfect "do", the ultimate "good hair day"! I am no exception. In my elusive search for the perfect hair cut I have tortured myself and damaged the hair God gave me. I shudder to think of the money I have spent on products, devices, treatments and salon appointments. Yet I am rarely satisfied. I really don't know what would make me say "wow, I love my hair!"

 

When these products fail we are known to purchase falls, toppers, wigs, extensions and other "fake" hair pieces. If our hair is naturally curly we struggle to tame it. If it's straight we try to curl it. If it's soft we make it stiffer, if it's dry we moisturize it to soften it.

 

My natural hair? I started out with very little! As a small child it was white blond and "fluffy". As the years passed it became darker and less fluffy. I have some prominent cowlicks but otherwise its straight and very fine. It was medium brown (I think) when I started coloring it. I have purposely streaked and frosted it blond for much of my adult life. I have accidentally turned it lavender then later Ronald McDonald red! I have unintentionally fried it with a home permanent turning it into yellow straw. This lovely mess lasted for over a year while I tried to grow it out. My mother has colored her own hair as long as I can remember. When I was about fourteen she tried red. It was beautiful and she looked like a movie star. Now she keeps it a soft blond- it looks great. Obviously it's not an inherited trait!

 

Now after all these decades of stripping out the color, age is streaking my hair with white highlights.  I have decided I don't like it all that much, so I try to cover up those white and gray hairs. And this leads to the Korean Adventure connection. Since I have been here I have had my hair cut only four times-all by Koreans. Hair cuts on the economy are very inexpensive- the equivalent f $7 to $10, plus tipping for service is NOT a tradition here!!! I have been as satisfied as I ever am with the results. The hardest part is just making the appointments. So with the help of our young sister missionaries I am all set up with a walk-in shop located in the alley behind our home.

 

That will make the next few months much easier. I simply took a picture of a time I kind of liked my hair and she followed the pattern. It turned out fine. But with the lack of communication, I was afraid to have her color it. So I did it myself. I can now add tangerine orange to my list of unusual hair colors!! Now I am that old American woman with the orange hair.

 

I have a friend. She is a beautiful, classy, kind woman. She has alopecia. She lost her hair years ago. If you didn't already know, you couldn't tell. She wears lovey wigs and a big beautiful happy smile. I asked her once how she handled it. She simply said she just doesn't think about it that much or it would get depressing. No, she doesn't think about it much because she is too busy thinking about and helping others. I admire her. I need to try more to be like her. Our small inadequacies (real or imagined) can take over our lives or they can be swallowed up and all but disappear in our efforts to follow Christ and to love and serve others. We choose. And we sometimes have to make that choice again and again, day after day!

 

Spring in Daegu

Magnolias just outside our apartment.

Spring seems to begin slowly here in Daegu. A sunny day here and there breaking the bleakness of winter skies. Bright blossoms of white standing out amidst the drab colors of nature still asleep. Little by little life returns with its color and soft scents. The grass trying so hard to turn green, a few tiny blades at a time. Each new discovery is a treasure. Like nature's debutant ball, the beauties make their appearance one by one. The pace picking up with the passage of days.

Then the cherry blossoms appear and spring bursts forth in shades of pink and red. Spring is a promise of life renewed. It is the hope of lighter days and the warmth that lifts our spirits. In spring our hearts are drawn with gratitude to the Creator of the beauty we see. His light lifts us. His warmth fills us. Through Him we have the promise of life renewed. Through him the gray skies of winter are replaced with hope. Through him all that was drab and dull breaks for white and clean. Spring is the season we celebrate the ultimate gift. The atonement of our Savior.
Here some of the scenes of spring from our mission in South Korea:  

The E-World tower.

These pictures were taken in Duryu park. We went there with the young missionaries during the Cherry Blossom festival. In the distance you can see Tower 83. Why 83? **
I really have no idea. Nor do I know why this style of tower is common here. It is located in an amusement park called E-world. I would guess that the name comes from the E-mart corporation.

The actual festival takes place in E-world. But at 30,000 won per person, we decided to enjoy the cherry blossoms without the festival.

The park itself is huge. It has nice walking trails, visitor's center,  recreational areas, a "Groovy Coffee house", cafe, gift shop, and thousands of Koreans! I mean that literally. On this beautiful spring day the park was packed with people. This is the only spring we will have here. We are trying to experience everything we can.

**Update- I found out that Tower 83 is called that because it's 83 stories tall. Seems a little too obvious and not so very Korean, but I thought I should add this. Also, I learned using the English "e" at the beginning of anything is intended to indicate easy living or modern accommodations. Our friend Dennis Shin told us that.