JINJU LANTERN FESTIVAL

Spreading the love at the Jinju Lantern Festival.

Monday to Wednesday at Shinpyeong Middle School this week were devoted to midterm exams. However, since I don't have to proctor or grade any exams this actually meant three days of freedom. Monday was spent recovering from Seoul. Tuesday I packed my bag again and set off to Jinju, a town 2 hours south of Gumi and host to a famous lantern festival. Though there are other lantern festivals in Korea this one stands out as both beautiful and historical; while under siege by the Japanese the people of Jinju placed lanterns in the river to prevent the Japanese from secretly fording the river at night.

The bus ride was, again, perfect for reading and on arrival in Jinju I easily met up with two other friends, Sophia and David. We got a late lunch at a local restaurant, delicious seafood kalguksu (a type of noodle soup) and a hot bibimbap which is a Jinju specialty. Then we wandered over the Jinju castle grounds which were full of lanterns depicting military battles, daily life in old Korea, animals and plants. There were so, so many I'm sure we only saw about half. Walking through the grounds it was like walking through a brightly lit picture book or a still movie.

The dancing cranes were by far my favorite.

David, myself and Sophia in front of the castle.

We had to walk up a hill to get to the castle and on the way back down we took another path which led us through the love tunnel. Literally, there is no other name for it. We stopped here to write our wishes on a ribbon, hoping all the good feelings in the love tunnel will help them come true.

My wish for this year.

After passing through the love tunnel we met up with another friend, John, who actually lives in Jinju. Together we sat down on the hill to watch the fireworks. The lanterns were amazing but they were nothing to the fireworks. The show began with five or six orange and white birds flying up into the night. They coasted so gracefully so that they almost seemed to be kites, but then each bird shot flames from its wings and sped off. This was the signal for the big fireworks and while these were standard fireworks they were stunning in their proximity. We were sitting just above of the river and when the first circle of light exploded everyone jumped. Then a waterfall of sparks began to flow off the sides of each bridge like a golden river. Soon more and more large fireworks were exploding in the sky and each spark seemed like it was about to run right up and kiss you. We could feel the ashes falling on us and I swear I saw someone showered in still-live sparklers. But with all this the noise as well. I feel as if this was the closest I will ever get to watching a star explode. Amazing. After it ended each one of us was stunned silent for a moment.

We were all getting hungry at this point and decided to cross the river in search of food. We quickly found more than we could handle in the giant marketplace, but were able to enjoy two more beautiful lantern tunnels on our way. In the end we sat at one of the food tents, talked and rested until we were about asleep on our feet. The night ended with my first stay at a love motel. 60,000 won for a two bed hotel room? I'll take it.

Windmill lantern, reminds me of the Netherlands.

View from the bridge. Not the best quality, but you can get the idea.

Lantern tunnel — these lanterns were all made (I think) by local children as each one was unique in design and skill level.

Me and 'The Kiss' lantern.

Giant dragon lantern.

This Friday is my first day back at school in a week, but it doesn't feel as if I was gone. I'm more surprised that it is October already. With midterms behind us and a new month ahead I want to take this weekend to map out some rigorous and exciting lesson plans for the rest of the semester. Especially as the weather starts to get chillier, sitting down with a hot drink and a large pile of work sounds more and more inviting.