Amanda Takes Off...

Lantern Parade Slide Show

Sunday, Good Man and I went to the Lantern Parade for Buddha's Birthday.

I culled down 700+ photos to 120 for a gallery. Unlike my usual galleries, which are all clickity-click, this one is a slide show. I decided that captions were probably not necessary.

In short: a parade to celebrate Buddha's birthday, it ends at Jogyesa, where thousands of lanterns are strung up. Wishes are written on the slips of paper hanging from the lanterns, and the papers (and lanterns, it seems) are burned to make the wishes come true.

Last year, my mom and stepdad arrived the night of the parade and managed to see most of it. This year I saw it with Good Man.

Things are coming full circle.

"관장님, 토요일 한복....잡을거예요?" Master, Saturday I... I thought, chose "grab," knowing that he'd understand. I grab my hanbok. Master nodded and said that was exciting. "일요일 [Good Man]의 부모님를 만날거예요. 그리고 여동생의 생일리에요." Sunday I'm meeting [Good Man]'s parents. And it's his sister's birthday.

Master grinned.

I wrinkled my nose. "긴장해요. [Good Man]도 조금 걱장해요." I'm nervous. And Good Man is a little worried, too.

"아만다! 화이팅!" Amanda! Fighting!

"괜찮아요. 똑똑해요. 우아해요. 예뻐요. 그리고...ego? Ego 아세요?" Master looked it up in his handphone's dictionary and I knew, again, that he would understand my circumlocution. "Ego 넓어요!"

Master burst out laughing.

It will be OK. I'm smart. I'm elegant. I'm beautiful. And I have a wide ego!

It's always nice when humor translates the way you want it to.

(Someone who is "open-minded" has a "wide heart," 마음이 넓다. Someone who has "wide feet," 발이 넓다, has many social connections. I figured "wide ego" would work.)

Isn’t everyone sometimes obscene when they are with their lovers?

Kim Yong-ho, photographer

I don't think Good Man and I are obscene, but we're certainly a "chicken skin couple."

(As a side note, I've had this quote sitting in a draft file since 23 November.)

Last night we went to the Lotus Lantern Parade for Buddha's Birthday. So lovely, even though the weather wasn't great. And as my time in Korea rapidly—too rapidly—draws to a close, things are coming full circle.

Jogyesa

(As another side note, I took more than 700 photos—RAW files—last night and slowly killed my computer uploading them today.)

I adore Changdeokgung (창덕궁) Palace. It's in central Seoul and huge. When you're inside the complex, the city just fades away. Usually, it's a tour-only palace, but on Thursdays from the spring through fall, you can pay 15,000 won and get access to most of the grounds on a self-guided tour. To protect the grounds, they limit admission to 1,000 people per day. Last year I went with my parents, and Thursday I went with Good Man.

Changdeokgung Album

The weather was so beautiful, and Good Man was really patient with me. I had dragged both lenses and my tripod along because I'd wanted to do some infrared photography. I really only should've brought the 18-135 mm lens. My infrared filter is threaded for that one, and I hate changing lenses midway through activities. Good Man, despite having a really bad cold (that I gave him), was a good sport.

More details in the gallery.

After we walked the large loop around the palace, we met Bill in Insadong. I had ten rolls of film I wanted to give him, because I knew I wouldn't use them. While we were chatting, the Crazy Rabbit Abuser showed up.

Rabbit Abuser

That is a rabbit on top of his hat. He had two of them there. He started chatting with us, asked Bill if he was American (he's Canadian). Then, he told us he was Chinese, tipped his head back, and "accidentally" dumped both rabbits on the ground.

Squeezing Kids

The rabbits started hopping towards me, but much as I wanted to pick them up, I wasn't going to. No worries! Some small kids came and grabbed them, squeezed them, dropped them. Oh, joy!

Under the Hat

Then the Crazy Rabbit Abuser collected the rabbits, threw a hat on them, put a wig on the hat... By this point a huge crowd had formed.

Crazy Rabbit Man

He then took out various things, threw them on the ground, and started asking if anyone in the crowd was a rabbit on the Chinese zodiac. Now, someone must have been, but nobody admitted to it.

In a Tennis Ball Can

Look at that tennis ball can. Look closely. What's inside? One of the rabbits.

At that point, the three of us finally left.

Later, we saw the Crazy Rabbit Abuser again at some Labor Day protests. Good Man didn't even want to cross the street because he didn't want the Crazy Rabbit Abuser to see us.

Korea is not a good country for animal lovers.

Today was Labor Day. This used to be a true holiday (a red day), until employers complained that there were too many holidays and the Korean gov't un-holified it. However, Good Man and I both had the day off, and what a lovely day it was.

Full post tomorrow.

Infrared Ghosts

Scandalizing Ajummas

Postcard Shot

Mad Cowboy Protests