The Lantern Parade in Seoul

During the month of May, brightly colored lanterns line streets of Korea to honor the birth of Buddha. Last weekend, I went to the Lantern Parade in Seoul to celebrate Buddha's birthday (which is actually today, May 25th). While I'm not religious, Buddhism aligns itself closest to my ideals, and ultimately what I think the meaning of life is. I won't get too much into my views on this, but I'll say that Buddhism is worth learning about. Here are some pictures from last weekend. During the daytime, Lena, Ivan and I explored, shopped, and chilled. Then in the evening we met up with Grace and Moon to eat and look at the lantern parade! Sorry about the blurry pictures. Night time photography isn't my forte.

Street carts + the ever present crowd

Lena! My cutest friend. ^_^

Shopping! I forget which area this is, but it's close to Jonggak station. 

We found this peaceful church...

...and after a long day, we decided to meditate here for a bit. 

DJ playing a track for the kids!  They were really getting into it. :3

Surprisingly quiet crowd listening to a monk's lecture.  

It was a good weekend. For dinner we ate a pizza that had a hash brown crust. Yes, you read that correctly. It was delicious. :)

Korea is going well. I've been on my own here for over 3 months now, yet I still feel like everything is new. I'm told that for the first 6 months, teachers tend to just settle in. I'm also learning a lot about myself. Or maybe my tastes and interests are starting to change. I enjoy spending more time exploring on my own, and being around less people. My inner world is rich with life, but I'm trying to get out of my head and live in the present. After learning about Buddhism I tell myself to stop daydreaming, and start living more frequently now.