Lantern Festival 2010

Ok I FINALLY went through all the videos of the lantern parade that we went to back in May! Here it is:

We are moving back to the states!

Greg got a job in Maryland so we are flying back to Cali on the 19th spending some time with family then driving across country! Here is our planned itinerary, of course I'll post new things we learn and sights we see along the way!

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American Thanksgiving in Seoul

We hosted a small American Thanksgiving this year for a family in our complex and Greg's students who work in the lab. (Korean Thanksgiving is held in October) We even downloaded and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Turkey is pretty expensive here if you can find it so we made Herb Roasted Chicken instead. I made mini apple and pumpkin pies from a muffin tin and I'm surprised how well they turned out.

Bird Cafe

Just as we have visited a cat cafe and a dog cafe, we also found a bird cafe! It is located in Itaewon back in an alleyway. Greg and I enjoyed a cup of tea while listening to Canaries and Finches sing! We even shared our rice cakes with them :)

Lillian's First Tea Party

We found a couple English style tea houses in Sinchon. We originally intended to spend the day with Lillian at the Christmas Cafe (a cafe with more winter decor than Christmas decor) but they were closed. So, we had a tea party instead!

Lillian's Buddhist Blessing

Greg and I have been learning about Buddhism while we have been in Korea, we feel the philosophy matches more of our values and beliefs. Buddhism focuses on self, being at peace with yourself and the world around you; things are not done to help your own ego but rather focuses on in general being a good person. Many other religions stemmed from Buddhist beliefs. We want to teach Lillian the Buddhist philosophy so we got her blessed at a Buddhist temple. She even wore a dress and shoes for the first time :) After, the monks prepared a feast for us and even drove us home since they were worried about miss Lillian being too cold.

We were originally going to give her a Korean Buddhist name; however, the arrangements got a little mixed up. Instead we had some Korean friends give her one. Her Korean name is:

It is the Korean word for Lily. She was born in the year of the Tiger so the Tiger Lily suits her well!

In search of Weihnachtsmann (Christmas Man)

Seoul was having a German Christmas Market this weekend and we went in search of Weihnachtsmann which means the "Christmas Man/ Father Christmas" or Santa. The German Santa differs from our Western Santa. Instead, on December 5th or 6th (depending where in Germany you are located) a man dressed as St. Nicholas goes to homes and delivers small gifts to children. Children would leave their shoes by the window or door to awaken the next day with small gifts and goodies stuffed in their shoes. However, St. Nicholas doesn't travel alone. Accompanying him are several devil-like Krampusse who carry a switch (eine Rute) which is what is shown in the picture to the right. The Krampus just tease the children with it. In some regions in Germany the Krampus is the good guy bringing gifts, in a way replacing St. Nicholas. Just like American customs, children may leave a wish list for Nicolas who passes it on to the Weihnachtsmann for Christmas.

Christmas Eve is the most important day of the German celebration; however, Santa Claus or St. Nick do not bring the gifts to children. Typically, the living rooms housing the Christmas tree are closed of and opened on Christmas eve. Gifts are also exchanged on Christmas eve usually before or after dinner. It is believed the Weihnachtsmann brings the gifts.

Largest Buddah in Seoul

I haven't posted in a while since I've been working more on the baby blog but we visited the largest Buddha in Seoul!