Lantern Festival

We had yet another great weekend. We are getting really good at making all the weekends count! On Saturday I had to work...but after work I stopped by the market to buy our fruit for the week and then we headed to Jung-gong for a movie. We saw the new Robin Hood movie. It was pretty good. Sunday morning we woke up and caught the bus to go to church. After church we talked to John and Paul for a while...we decided that we like them...a lot. They are a lot of fun and we hope to go on some kind of adventure with them soon. We won't see them for two weeks though because we will be in Busan this Sunday and we are going on a biking trip next weekend.

After church we headed into Seoul to check out the Lantern Festival. It was a gorgeous day...I am going to just put it out there right now that Summer in Korea is not going to be my favorite season. It is going to be HOT HOT HOT!

Our first excursion at the Lantern Festival was to make our very own Lotus Lanterns. It was really easy and they turned out great! There were literally thousands of these lanterns everywhere! It was so pretty!

This is the guy who was running the booth. He was a character. He commandeered Kaley's camera for a while and got some great shots and then he was insistent that we take our picture with him. He was a lot of fun!

There were a lot of activities to do at the festival. It was super kid friendly. There were a lot of arts and crafts available. You could make lanterns, masks, candles, pagodas, and fans. Or you could play games, build towers, play Chinese jump rope, tug-of-war, or even get your face painted. It was the best festival I have been to thus far in Korea.


We also went to the man made city river...Kaley had never been there before. I have been there and even posted about it a couple of times but I can't remember the name right now and I am a little too lazy to go and look it up. The flowers are blooming and they decorated the area with all kinds of lanterns so it was really neat. It was also fun to be there with another person! I think do things with someone else is a lot more fun than doing them by myself!

There was also a parade...We couldn't believe all the lanterns! There was also a night parade but we didn't stay for it because by that time we had wandered pretty far from the festival and we wanted to get home because Kaley has to work so early in the morning.

This is one of the views of the man made city river...that is the new name...

They also had these big lanterns in the middle of the river. They are made of paper and they are very intricate and beautifully crafted. I was extremely impressed!

Just one of the many funny signs I see in Korea on a daily basis. This is my favorite "Subway Manners" shot. They have a lot of signs that depict good subway manners and bad subway manners...this one always bring a smile to my face and for some reason I always have to mimic the sign...I am getting pretty good at making my face look like his! :)

Well...we leave for Busan on Friday morning...We don't have any solid plans for things to do except sit on the beach and visit a temple. We are hoping to connect with some church friends who are also going down for the weekend. Our goal is to soak up some sun...but alas it is supposed to rain. Oh well...I am sure we will still have fun.

Holly