Cheongdo Temple
May 02, 2006

Jin's Husband (Yong Won) invited me to one of his construction sites today.  He's an architect who specializes in traditional Korean buildings (temples, houses, etc.).  I've actually been to this temple before (see 10/27/05).  It's very nice, but you must navigate up a long treacherous mountain road to find it.  Buddha's birthday is a few days from now, so the temple was decorated with many paper lanterns.

Today's event was a special celebration.  A sort of coronation of the building.  The large main upper support beam was in place and that's considered a very important day.  So the monk chose 3:00pm as a time to celebrate.  In ancient times, the special food and tea being served was quite fancy for the day, so the workers used to feel like it was their birthday.  Even today the workers were so excited about the festivities that we overheard one comment on how today must be his birthday.

Special rice cakes are prepared with sweet red beans to help ward off evil spirits.  I also was honored to be invited to enjoy lotus tea with the monks.  The head monk was a jolly fellow and seemed very nice.  I took a picture with him and if you notice, I'm kneeling over slightly.  I'm not sure if it matters, but I didn't want to be disrespectful and be too much taller than him.

What I learned today about Korea:  1)  The middle support beam of a Korean style building means you get to celebrate like it's your birthday!