Temple Stay

A couple of weekends ago, we spent some time at the temple of a friend of Peter and Aruna's (as mentioned in a previous post). It was not easy to find. Finally, after our gps failed to get us there and we had to make several phone calls to Aruna, she found us driving and led us up the road to the temple.

The owner of the temple, Dong-ki Sunim, is a nun. Her brother built the temple and she lives there with her mother and the cook. The temple is open for visitors year-round.

Above, the boys enter the main area of the temple where the statue of Buddha resides and where Dong-ki Sunim welcomed us with some delicious green tea. Buddhists like their tea, I've learned. If you don't drink tea, you're really not Buddhist. Seriously. Below, Jack stretches near our room for the night. You can see the kitchen and it's supply of pots filled with soy sauce, red pepper sauce, kimchi, etc. for use by the residents.

Below, Dong-ki Sunim pours the tea. I found her incredibly nice and very welcoming. She was very patient with the noisy kids. Not many people have natural charisma, but I found that she does. Very quiet, but seems incredibly knowledgeable and easy-going. When Aruna left the temple, Peter said, she was one of the few in the community who were supportive initially of her choice (since then, many have accepted it). She's remained a good family friend since.

Sanshin, or the mountain spirit, enjoys his supply of fruit and liquor. The mountain spirit is a very important part of many temples--as most are on mountains.

The food was so good. It tasted clean and fresh. They generously fed us for two days. The kitchen floor was a dirt floor and we ate on a raised platform. Naturally, you need to take your shoes off when on the platform.

Ginger and roots simmer on the woodstove for a nice after lunch tea.

The boys enjoy some oranges on the little stone table in the courtyard.

After our lunch, we decided to visit a local mountain and a different temple. The kids, below, aren't really sure what the proper etiquette for entering a temple is, beyond removing their shoes. The boys tend to scoot around on their knees whereas Dahin likes to bow. I discourage her a little from this because she does it in an exaggerated manner and, because we aren't Buddhist, don't want people to think our kids are mocking the Buddha. It's good, though, that they are learning respect for other religions. I encourage them to sit quietly while inside the space and contemplate on what they are seeing.

The kids decided to give flowers to Buddha, so we paid 1,000 won per kid for some flowers that they placed near the Buddha statue.

This was the first time I'd seen something like this at a temple. Under the paper lanterns was a little shrine of sorts filled with candles. People wrote their wishes and prayers in white marker all over the structure.

After visiting the mountain, we went on the quest for food. Accidentally we found this place that at first looked either too fancy or too expensive for two families with kids. But, we stopped for the cows--while the kids visited with a cow and its mom, grownups went inside to investigate. It was an old, re-done large hanok (maybe, possibly, modeled on a yangban, or aristocrat, house). Beautifully done, the inside was incredibly warm and inviting. We were led down stairs to a place with both private rooms (you need a reservation for those) and a general eating area. The wait staff was so friendly and kind to the kids, and the food was so good. It's possibly the best time I've had eating out in Korea thus far. Any visitors, family or friends, who come our way in the future, we're taking them there. I don't care if it's an hour and a half outside of Seoul. Totally worth it. So, if you want to go the hot springs spa and then end the day with a great dinner in a wonderful location--call us!

Outside, they had peppers and other vegetables drying in a little pavillion. Behind the pavillion was a little stream. The kids had a great time trying to skip stones and playing sword fight with sticks they found. Below, Oliver and Dahin enjoy some hot cocoa.

The next morning we woke up to rain. I tell you what, I am not used to sleeping on a hot floor. I love the ondol heating system, but it's like sleeping on a heating pad all night long. Kept waking up because I felt overheated and needed water. At the same time, we were grateful for the room for the evening and the environment was so beautiful and peaceful.

While Jack, Dahin, Oliver, and I slept all together, Ronan had his first sleep over with his friend Leon. When I found them in the morning, they were watching cartoons and playing with legos.

The boys went to the sauna for some relaxing bath time and the girls stayed behind for some tea. Dahin enjoyed being with the grownups. Dong-ki Sunim said that Dahin should drink a lot of tea since the first syllable of her name, "Da" uses the Chinese character for tea.

Dahin took some photos. After a while, a nine year-old gets restless if the primary activity is drinking tea. I decided to knit since I, as well, got a little restless.

Seeing the wood stove and smelling the burning wood reminds me of my childhood. As much as I hated waking up to a cold house and cutting/getting firewood, I loved the smell and feel of the wood stove.

Above, sweet potatoes were roasted on the stove and, below, we get to eat them. These are called 'hobak koguma" or pumkin sweet potatoes and they are as sweet as candy.

Leaving them temple meant saying thank you and goodbye to both Buddha and the mountain spirit.

We hung outside the front gate of the temple for a while as the kids explored the grounds. The neighbor who owns the house near the temple keeps up the grave site of the previous owner. Below, the kids go to visit the site.

Aruna took some branches and berries as a souvenir for their home. I think Aruna and Ronan really bonded during the trip. Ronan is wearing a tshirt Dahin made at school that says "I [heart] CA."

On the way home, we had dinner with halmoni and komo and the kids were out like lights by the time we got home. Because I can no longer lift Oliver into the top bunk without killing my back, he got to sleep in mommy and apa's bed.