“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

- Buddha

Buddha's birthday was on May 14. It is interesting to note that according to the 2005 census 29.2% of Koreans identify as Christian, while only 22.8% identify as Buddhist. It is nice to see that everyone is able to get along and still enjoy the cultural significance of Buddhism. My friends and I visited Jogyesa Temple in Seoul to see some of the amazing lanterns and then stayed to watch part of the lantern parade.

Nothing is sacred in Korea. This lantern is characters from a Korean cartoon that they play on buses and trains called Larva, as in bug larva.

Korean's are also obsessed with the Little Prince.

People could pay to write prayers or wishes on pieces of paper. Then each paper was attached to one of the thousands of balloons draped everywhere. Every inch of the temple grounds was covered with lanterns.

The lanterns in the parade were really cool, but in between the giant lantern floats were hoards of people carrying small lanterns. I believe my attention span is getting shorter and shorter the older I get. We only stayed at the parade for about an hour, Rachael and I couldn't take anymore sitting on the ground.

It seemed as if every single group in Korea got to march in this parade. There were children, monks, women, people with disabilities, and every other group under the sun. Each carrying different types of small lanterns.

I was also able to go to an island off the West coast of Seoul. We climbed a mountain, took a nap on the beach, and walked back to the bus.

To get to the island we had to take a 2 minute ferry ride. Korea sacrifices efficiency, in order for people to have jobs. They could definitely build a bridge which would be cheaper and easier, but they have to have jobs for the people who run the ferry. Side rant: They pay grandmas and grandpas to go around the streets with tiny little brooms sweeping up trash. Why not instead put trash cans around the city and start having anti-littering campaigns? Ok end of rant.