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Today was one of the longest days ever. I did so much! The day started with mass in Seoul at the Myeong-Dong Catholic Cathedral. The cathedral is very pretty and was the first western style building in Seoul. After mass we walked around for a bit and watched everyone set up the area for the Lotus Lantern Festival.
My roommate and I decided to make our way to the Seodaemun Prison. The prison was one of the many prisons that held Korean Freedom fighters during the Japanese colonial rule. The prison was fairly large and is said to have been built to hold 500 prisoners at time. However, it is believed that it once held 3000 prisoners. The living conditions in the prison were awful and torture was not uncommon. The exhibits were very good at showing the atrocities that Japan committed during their rule. Through the use of many bloody, talking, screaming robotic mannequins and several. descriptive info signs the museum tried to get the point across: Japan bad, Korea good. For example, one sign said: "In the meantime, Japan cruelly oppressed the resistance, arrested and imprisoned patriotic fighters in prisons they had built, and conducted ruthless tortures...After forcibly
taking away our national sovereignty, Japan gradually expanded the scale of prisons to annihilate Anti-Japanese force." It's no wonder that so many of the kids I teach have already expressed their hatred for Japan. Sad, really.
After the prison we made our way to Hongneung Arboretum. The grounds were beautiful. There were so many different trees, herbs, and flowers. It was especially pretty with all the flowers in bloom. There was also a museum of forestry there that had some awesome wooden structures.
Following the short hike we headed for Insadong for the Lotus Lantern Festival. It was pretty cool. The festival takes place every year and I think it is part of Buddha's birthday. There were little stands set up all over and we were able to make our own lotus lantern. Mine actually turned out okay. We were able to find a good place to watch the parade, which was amazing. There were so many lanterns. They were so pretty and the floats were so beautiful! I've never seen so many monks, too! There were hundreds walking in the parade. Truly the parade was one of the prettiest I've ever seen! I LOVE lanterns!
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