touring the temples

The next day, we decided to find some of the Buddhist temples in town. On the way, Betsy & I convinced Steve that he needed a haircut. We found a barber (the little spinning red & white barber pole is evidently an international sign), and found out a haircut cost 10,000 Won (roughly $12) and we plopped Steve in the chair. I don't think I've ever seen him so frustrated -- he had a terribly hard time communicating to the barber how short he wanted his hair. Steve kept saying "GI," hoping that the barber would recognize the fact he wanted a military-style (short) cut, but we were in a section of town that sees relatively few Westerners, so no luck. Anyway, Steve certainly got his money's worth: the haircut took a good half-an-hour, with the Korean barber taking care to cut every single hair, even give him a little scalp massage.

By the way, the barber shop is also the place where men (no women!) go to get a full-body massage (costs 20,000 Won, I think). Apparently these can last for as long as an hour, and are given by young Korean women (who spend their time waiting for customers by watching TV in another room of the barber shop).

We finally made it to a sort of 'complex' of several Buddhist temples, just as it was reaching dusk. The exterior of the temples were lined with colorful paper lanterns which are hung by members of the church. The names of family members are written on a tag, which gets attached to the bottom of the lanterns, and a candle is lit inside. Your prayers for your family are intertwined with the rising smoke, and delivered to Buddha. If, perchance, the lantern catches on fire, this is an extremely bad omen, foretelling bad events for the family in the coming year.

We wandered into one of the temples during a service. The monks were chanting and banging on metal drums that looked like little bowls. They, and the worshipers, were kneeling on mats, and sporadically rocking back and forth on their knees, then rising and bowing. Candles and incense were burning inside this incredibly colorful (and cold!) temple. It was a truly beautiful and haunting experience.