Lotus Lantern Parade

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OK, so it wasn't the Red Mile.
It was Jogno...right smack dab in the middle of Seoul.
OK, so there wasn't 15,000 screaming fans pouring down one strip of Calgary downtown roadway, flashing skin and banners and beer bottles.
There was actually about 500,000 people, and they were happy, and they were bathed in the warm glow that only thousands and thousands of lotus lanterns can give. It wasn't Calgary, but it was incredible.
Besides, if I was at home, I would have only got the hockey game. Here, I got the hockey game....LIVE (thank you Corey and Tyler, from the bottom of my heart)....AND I got the best festival I have ever experienced in my life. My headache wasn't pleasant, but it was my own fault, so I took my lumps without too much self pity. Afterall, it was Buddha's birthday, I don't think self pity is conduscent to that context.
We made to the bar late...I was supposed to go alone and hang out semi-pathetically again on the bar stool, hoping some Flames fan would show up out of the woodwork to empathize with my enthusiasm...but Dallas' private was cancelled so I was blessed with his company. Not that it mattered all that much. Dallas was tired and sick, and there were Flames jerseys gallore. Good win, good times.
But I went to the festival alone. I met up with people, but all I really wanted to do was experience it alone. Buddhism is something that strikes a chord in me even I don't understand, and I couldn't expect that anyone else would understand what I was feeling if I didn't.

So I painted the mandola alone, aside from the thousands of Koreans and foreigners vying for a small spot along the table. I made the lantern alone, in a very Zen-like state of calm despite the pushing and shoving. I made the scroll alone, and I meditated on a pillow in the middle of mayhem on the streets of Seoul, alongside about a dozen other people, all experienced Buddhists, all enthralled by my desire to participate, REALLY participate, in the meditation, and not just check off another "thing to see and do at the festival" while giggling and waving and posing for pictures from their friends. It was amazing, though I fully admit I was the stereotypical white Canadian tourist, assuming she is more empathetic to cultures she doesn't understand than other white tourists around her, trying to get in eveything I can and purchase as much "authenticity" in one day as humanly possible. Luckily it did not drain my bank account- most of the goodies at the festival were free, and as authentic as it gets for a foreigner's festival.

But the parade was the highlight. It was absolutely stunning. Without a doubt, one of those quintessential experiences in life that you wish your camera would do just a little bit more friggin justice. But alas, this is all I can offer. If one has the creativity to be up for the challenge, you can imagine on your own the soft glow of thousands of pink lanterns dancing on the shoulders and in the gentle grasp of monks, traditional hanok dressed Korean women, children, foreigners (tourists), and the elaborately dressed representatives from different respective countries buddhist factions (Cambodia, Thaliand, India, Sri Lanka, etc.), with various "bands" of drummers, pipe players, cymbals clashing and monks dancing (prancing would be a more appropriate term, if not for its insincerity it seems to muster up). Giant fire-breathing dragon and Pheonix floats, and the occassional random papered action figure (only in Korea- one was a giant pig with a bazooka shooting fire at the onlookers).
Though it doesn't do it justice (never does), this is what I can offer.

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Photos

Lanterns
A stall, the "eve" of the festival, full of lanterns, soon to flee the shelves in anxious foreigners arms

Hanok women
As long as it was lit with lights, it was included in the parade. This was from the "eve" parade, the little version of the next night to come- that warm up

Friendly Koreans in the parade
Always looking for an excuse for a picture...stopped the parade to pose

Lanters at the temple
The outdoor "roof" was made of thousands of lanterns strung together and woven to make a cover...the tree went right through the lights....breathtaking

bubbles
Yes, I pranced through the crowd, trampling small children, to hold bubbles in my little hands....all in the spirit of the festival

The "real" parade
this parade was the real parade on the Sunday...Buddha's "Birthday"

Fire-breathing Pheonix
Due to my own stupidity, I couldn't charge my camera the night before. At this point, I was sucking the juice out of the battery by keeping the shutter closed, turning it and spastically taking pictures before the battery would die again. Needless to say, I did not get the fire-breathing on camera

Dragons
Once again, no fire on camera