Korea Day 14: Temple Stay & Dongdaemun

Carol | August 2, 2019 | Featured, South Korea | No Comments

Kookmin took us to Beomnyunsa Temple for our Friday field trip this week. We participated in a TempleStay program, where visitors participate and learn about monk life. Later in the evening I went out exploring the city on my own for the first time and visited super cool Dongdaemun Design Plaza.

Day 14 Highlights

Temple Stay at Beomnyunsa Temple (field trip)
- Tea Ceremony
- Monk Lunch
- Bracelet Making
- Temple Tour
Kookmin
Dongdaemun

Temple Stay at Beomnyunsa Temple

For this week’s Friday field trip we were taken by bus to Beomnyunsa Temple in Yongin-si, South Korea. It was about an hour a half drive by bus from Kookmin, and was the furtherest from Seoul I traveled aside from my trip to Busan. Beomnyunsa is a relatively new temple, established in 2005. Our TempleStay included learning about Temple etiquette, participating in a tea ceremony, eating a traditional monk meal, braiding bracelets, and touring the temple.

Beomnyunsa, Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

Official Beomnyunsa Website

Tea Ceremony

I really enjoyed learning about and participating in a tea ceremony. It consisted of three parts (brewings), the last two of which were accompanied by a super yummy honey cookie.

Monk Lunch

The monks grow and make all their own food. For lunch we got to eat one of their traditional meals. Proper etiquette requires eating everything on one’s plate. Most things were really good, but most of us were not fans of the beansprout soup and had a hard time choking it down which created some amusing moments.

Traditional Monk Meal. Best watermelon ever.

Bracelet Making

I wish I could remember what this type of bracelet making technique was called. This method requires two people to secure the wooden base. It was a fun and easy craft experience.

Temple Tour

Inside the Main Buddha Hall

Kookmin

Our bus arrived back at Kookmin a little after 5 pm. I grabbed a snack from the dorm’s 24 hour unmanned convenience store. Such a cool feature! Did some laundry, and wrote to Karl on a cute card featuring a popular Shark character. So cute!

Dongdaemun

Later in the evening, I decided to go out exploring on my own for the first time. Some of the others had already visited an area called Dongdaemun which is known for its unusual architecture, especially that of the organic and spirally-shaped Design Plaza in Dongdaemun‘s fashion town. I didn’t arrive in Dongdaemun until almost 9:30 pm. The majority of businesses and restaurants were closed or closing since it was late in the evening, but I thoroughly enjoyed walking around and enjoying the mesmerizing views. The design plaza was one of my favorite architectural experiences in South Korea.

Going on an adventure. Thank god for the Naver app!

The Search for Dinner

Was wandering around looking for food and stumbled into this place. The staff was super nice even though I didn’t understand a thing they said. The guy that took my order tried to make sure I knew what I was ordering since I couldn’t understand the menu. He used his phone to try to translate but the translation said chicken sand bag. I didn’t understand so I gave the thumbs up. I think my dish was chicken gizzards. It wasn’t bad just super chewy. The peppers in the dish bothered me more than anything else.