A few weeks ago we went to Golgulsa temple to do a temple stay. We arrived in the afternoon and settled in. When you sign up you basically agree to follow the same routine as the monks do everyday.

So here is our schedule (and the ugly vests we had to wear the whole time):

5:30- Dinner. It was a completely vegan meal and they eat this way everyday. Also, they must eat everything they take, as they are not allowed to waste any food. We were talking to one of the five foreigners that are living there studying martial arts. He said because of the strict routine, working out and eating he has lost something like 25 lbs in 6 weeks. We met a few of the foreigners throughout the weekend. They all want to train in the martial art Sunmudo. There were 4 guys and 1 girl. Two of the guys have been there for 3 years studying. If you sign up for this program you have to stay for a minimum of two years, but it is free. They work teaching children the martial art and also teach English at the camps. It's really impressive that they can commit to something like that. Back to dinner, we had rice, soup, bean sprouts and kimchi- the pickled cabbage. I am happy to say that I ate everything.

7:00- Chanting time- we went to a hall where the men and woman were seperated on opposite sides of the gym. We went through about half an hour of chanting (or in our case listening) and bowing. It was a bit confusing as we had no idea what we were doing or when we were supposed to be doing it. We were always 2 steps behind, as if we don't stick out enough in the Buddhist temple just being foreigners. We also had to learn this meditation and remember like 12 different motions and their order, as we would be doing it later on with the monks.

7:30- We started to learn the basics of Sunmudo. It seemed a bit like yoga, really challenging positions that I had absolutly no hope of doing. But I must say Allan was a lot worse than I was....sorry! It was really interesting though. After our training we watched some monks and some of the master foreigners doing it and it was rediculous. I could never move my body that like. Meditation time- you are supposed to have your eyes closed and be thinking about meditating things, but I definitly had to cheat and follow the head monk.

10:00- Bed time! I was sharing a room with 3 foreign girls and 3 Korean woman. We had a bit of a problem. I think I may have mentioned earlier that Koreans will not leave a fan on in a room if the doors and windows are closed. They think it will kill you. Every year there are a certain number of fan deaths that are reported in newspapers. When you buy a fan here, amongst all of the warnings to not stick your hands in the blades, etc, there is a picture of a person sleeping with the fan on and a big X over it. This seems more than a little rediculous. Apparently the reason is that they think the fan might spontaneously start turning in the opposite direction and suck your breath out of your lungs. If you would like to learn more about this Korean phenomenom, or for a good laugh, check out the wikipedia site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

So, back to the problem. For some unknown reason the floor heat in our room was on. It was boiling out and we couldn't figure out how to turn it off. So we turned on the two fans in our room. As we were all going to bed the Koreans turned off the fan closest to them, came over and turned ours off too. One of the other girls stood up and turned it right back on. All was well until the middle of the night when I hear the Koreans screaming like banshees. I thought it was time to get up, so I start to wake myself up. Then they walked over, woke up the same girl and tried to get her to turn off the fan again. She wouldn't. Needless to say, the next day the friendlyness between roomates was gone.


our rooms for the night

4: 00am- Time to wake up. You have half an hour to get out of bed and get to the temple or you have to do 3000 bows as a punishment. There was no way I was being late for this.

4:30- More chanting. At least I knew what I was doing a little more this morning.

5:00- Sitting Zen- As we were walking to the temple Allan said " sitting zen, I wonder what that is? It says we do it for 2 hours". So after the chanting finished, they really told us nothing but to look at the wall and meditate. After about 5 minutes had gone by all I could think of was Allan saying "2 hours". I knew I couldnt make it. Everyone else had their eyes closed but I could not close mine because I would have fallen asleep immediately, it was 5am. I was also the most fidgity person that ever existed while this was happening. Of course this is the time when my whole body is itchy, you scratch one thing and the second that is satisfied something else because itchy. My feet also kept falling asleep, there was a mosquito buzzing around my ears, etc. It was quite the task to try and sit still for an unknown length of time. Really the unknown was killing me. Thankfully after 30 minutes we went outside for a mediataion walk. Basically we walked in a straight line without talking.

7:00- Our next big task, the breakfast ceremony. There were probably about 25 steps to doing this properly and since you are eating in front of everyone you want to do it right. There is a certain way you have to set your place, take your food, eat your food and clean the bowls. We also had to eat everything at this meal and we had to finish before the head monk finished because thats when it ends. I was worried to I started scarfing everything down as fast as I could. It was basically the same meal as dinner but the soup has seaweed in it. I normally like seaweed but for some reason the texture of this was unbearable. I was gagging but just trying to eat it. Oh, you also have to eat in silence, so I was trying to be as quiet as possible as I'm gagging this down. Allan looked over at me and my eyes were watering and my cheeks were quivering as I was barely keeping it in my mouth. So he secretly put his bowl next to mine and I passed him most of it. Awww, my knight in shinning armor! I don't think I would have made it without that. Other than that, everything was fine. I finished it all, and before the monk and I sufficiently cleaned my bowl with water and a piece of kimchi- I still don't understand the significance of that.

8:30- Tea time- We all gathered with one of the monks for tea time. This was much more relaxed and nice than breakfast. We could talk to him and ask him questions. One of the Koreans that was doing the temple stay asked for all of us to introduce ourselves. I got to go first and when I said I was an English teacher here, they all broke out into a round of aplause for me. It was kind of awkward.


the tea ceremony monk looking very confused at the jar of tea


from 9:00- 11:30 we visited another temple in the area. Allan and I were so exhausted though that we headed back to the bus and slept. When we got back we had our last meal with the monks, which was the same and dinner and breakfast had beed. I really don't know how these foreigners have stayed there for 3 years. I would be pretty sick of plain rice after having it 3 times a day.

All in all it was a great learning experience and really fun. I do have two favorite moments that stick out though. When the head monk was introducing Sunmudo to us and telling us why they do it, how they do it, the mediation process etc.....he was interrupted by his cell phone ringing under his robe. I mean I don't expect monks to live in the 13th century or anything but it was surprising when his phone went off. The second would be when we were having tea time. There was one monk who was at the front speaking. It was quiet for awhile and all of a suddent he lets out this massive burp and just shrugs his shoulders and says "It's natural!". I love it.


the biggest slug that has ever existed

I swear I tried to turn this picture the right way before I put it up, but it didn't work, so I'm sorry! This is the reason this temple is famous- a picture of Buddha carved into the side of a mountain. You can't tell but this is actually on the side of a cliff hundreds of feet above the ground. I have no idea how someone carved this.

More to come- you can all thank Allan for making me use capital letters in this. He said the other ones looked unprofessional.