It's about time that I blogged about some of the festivals I have been able to participate in while here in Korea.
Busan- Holi Festival - March 16th
I will make this brief because I talked about this festival in an earlier post. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is an Indian celebration welcoming spring and celebrating the end of winter. It is a colorful celebration full of face painting, bright hats, food, and of course colored powder. Hundreds of Koreans and foreigners gathered together on Haeundae Beach. There was much socializing, eating samosas, and general merriment. We dressed in white so we could experience the full effects of the colored powder. After a countdown, the colors were released, music was played, dancing happened, and we all celebrated!
Jinhae- Cherry Blossom Festival - April 6th
I thought this festival was beautiful and so did millions of other Koreans. Every year the little town of Jinhae gets millions of visitors during the cherry blossom season. There are more cherry trees planted here then in any other town and the way they are planted makes for beautiful pictures and a great festival. There is a cute stream that is lined with trees, the railroad tracks are lined with trees, the streets are lined with trees... the trees are lined with trees... ok I made up that last one, but seriously, so many trees. If you want a birds eye view, you can even ride a cable car over the town. I didn't do this because the lines were long and the threatening rain clouds chased us from the festival early.
I had only been in Korea for a little over a month when I went to Jinhae and I was not ready to deal with the crowds. We had to wait in long lines to catch a bus, wait in long lines for food, wait in long lines to see the quaint spots, imagine these quaint spots didn't have thousands of people blocking the view, and wait in long lines to get out of the town at the end of the day. I am better with the crowds now, heck I can even push my way along almost as well as a Korean adjuma (older korean woman... they are very pushy). Ok, I will be honest I can push my way through as best as a Midwest girl can which means there is a lot of excuse mes and apologies :)
Overall Jinhae was a beautiful place and I am glad I went once. If I am here for another cherry season, I will enjoy the blossoms in my towns and the towns around me.
Boryeong - Mud Fest - July 19th & 20th
Just recently I got to experience Mud Fest. Yep, it is just like how it sounds. There were lots of people covered in mud. It was great! The mud in Boryeong is supposed to be very good for skin health so about 20 years ago they decided to start a festival to bring more people in. I booked the trip through a tour group in Daegu. It was really nice because I didn't have to figure out transportation or lodging, they did it all for me. It was worth the little bit of extra money. Trying to book accommodations in these smaller towns can be very difficult with my limited Korean abilities, and everything fills up so fast around festival times. I hopped on a bus Saturday morning and was on the beach covered in mud by early afternoon. There was an area you could pay to go into that had more mud and slides/games. I didn't do that, instead I slathered my self in mud the old fashioned way and sat on the beach. When the mud dried, we could just go wash off in the ocean and go back for more. At night there was a K-pop concert, fireworks, and tons of great food venders for late night munching. There were so many foreigners at this festival and I had a blast meeting new people and connecting again with other teachers from orientation.
There are some great people in Korea, wonderful festivals, incredible foods, and adventures around every corner. I am lucky to be having this experience!
