I'm A Travelin' Man....(with apologies to Ricky Nelson)

Hello, Fellow Travelers on the Road of Life:

Well, I covered a lot of ground this past week. My wonderful teacher friend, Song Min-Hi, and her family invited me to see some parts of Korea that few tourists are ever able to penetrate by virtue of being off the beaten path and somewhat difficult to access. Min-hi is the first grade teacher at my school and has been a lifesaver for me because she is the only one around the place who speaks fairly fluent English. She is about Diana's age. She and her boyfriend have to be in the running for "Cutest Couple in Korea" and I take a certain pride in the fact that she says her boyfriend is more afraid of me than he is of her father. After all, I am a lot bigger than most Korean men and my Bhuddah-like dome probably inspires a certain other-worldly kind of awe. But I digress...back to our story.

My first venture this week was to the ancient city of Kyung-jong (about a four hour train ride southeast of Uijongbu) which has been preserved and set aside as a kind of Bhuddist version of Williamsburg. The architecture is very distinctive and the seven-towered temple complex is impressive. I was able to visit a Bhuddist "prayer meetin'" in a large hall complete with tinkling cymbals, booming drums and an ominous sounding gong. I declined the opportunity to buy a fruit or grain offering to leave at the statue of Bhudda ("Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image"), but I did make a donation to the temple "poor box." My impression is that these people are serious, peaceful and not hurting anybody. However, it's a long way from Christianity and is, ultimately, a religion of salvation by works rather than by faith and fails the test of the Christian ethos. I wasn't called to be an evangelist and upset anyone's cultural apple cart (I do enough of that in secular circumstances). To each his own, I suppose. We then drove up a nearby mountain to Seong-ju to see Korea's oldest and largest stone Bhuddah. Again, more opportunities for fruit and grain, another poor box, etc. The place is a UNESCO World Heritage site (with the obligatory donation to support on-going preservation work) and worth the half-hour climb up a rocky path. It reminded me somewhat of the massive "Christ the Redeemer" statue on the mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. After a museum visit and a trip to see an ancient Confucian astronomical observatory we drove east to Pohang-si, a seaside town overlooking the Sea of Japan. I'm a big fan of sashimi (raw fish) and got to pick my own fish from a big tank and have it skinned and fileted table-side. I think part of it was still moving, but it tasted so good I try not to think about it lest the wrath of PETA descend on me.

Back to K yung-jong where we spent the night at a mountain guest house where Min-hi's family had made reservations. I'll tell you later about my oddball breakfast experience and visit to the border with North Korea and the U.N. peace talks site at Panmunjom but, for now, my typing hand is worn out.

Your "Smiling Bhudda" Buddy,

Bill