Chuncheon, South Korea -- Buddha's Birthday Parade 2009

Last night Julianne and I headed to Myoungdong in downtown Chuncheon for dinner. After eating we were walking towards the taxi stand just down from the main intersection and ran into the start of Chuncheon's Buddha's birthday parade . . . the timing could NOT have been more perfect, and unexpected, lol.

A little while ago Julianne got a severe migraine (we had to go to the ER, see the story here) so we were unable to go to Seoul for the big Lotus Lantern Festival this year.

Luckily for Julianne and I we did some pre-festival/parade scouting of Jogye temple in Seoul to see what the 2009 lanterns look like. See here for pics of the 2009 temple lanterns, and also check out my Cheonggyecheon stream lantern sculptures at night too.

It's very cool that somehow life set up this nice unexpected surprise for us to be in the right place at the right time in order to see a mini-version of the Seoul parade in Chuncheon.

The military marching band wasn't bad. I've heard a fair number of them back in Canada . . . it's too bad they don't use the big bass drum we use back in Canada to mark the pace for marching--it makes a really cool big echoey boom as you march . . .

I don't know where the parade began or how long it ran for . . . I was surprised that they didn't shut down the street for it to go through. There also didn't seem to be much of a crowd watching. There were some people, but I think they just happened to be downtown on a Friday night and stopped to watch . . .

It's REALLY hard not to contrast this parade with the one in Seoul . . . and I shouldn't . . . but . . .

The lantern sculptures were nice . . . but a little small.

This truck had balloons and paper lanterns in it that they were giving away. Julianne wanted one but nobody offered . . .

This guy was running back and forth from the truck to the people on the streets giving out balloons and lanterns.

There's a magical glow to the women who wear these costumes and hold the glowing lanterns . . . I have some even nicer shots from last year's parade in Seoul where literally HUNDREDS of women walk by during the almost 3 hour parade--the parade in Chuncheon lasted about five minutes . . . lol.

I had no time to try to use the different manual settings on my camera so my flash wouldn't wash the pic out too much . . . I just gave up and was using the nighttime pre-set . . .

Still, the colors are nice.

Oops . . .

The dragons rotated on the back of the trucks--but I wanted to see FIRE. The dragons in the Seoul parade send out blasts of fire which lookl totally freaking awesome at night . . .

I was surprised that there were no people standing on top of and in some of the sculptures but I guess they weren't big enough to withstand the weight of a person in the platform box on top.

Kiddiemobile . . . lol.

Dragonfish?

This was another sculpture that I thought might have a real person in it but it was just a mannequin-type thing.

Then these guys go by with a massive set of speakers and stereo system.

Miniature pagoda . . .

This dragon was probably the best one . . .

One thing I noticed about the people in the parade . . . they weren't as happy and friendly as the ones in Seoul. I don't know if they were tired and if it was near the end of a long parade route or . . . but the spirit of this parade had a different feel to it.

That being said, when the parade line stopped for a minute two grandmothers with two children right in front of me smiled at me when I greeted them in Korean and bowed . . . it might also be that because Chuncheon is a more rural area with a lot less foreigners than Seoul (holy understatement Batman!) . . . yeah.

I take a pic and lower my camera. I look around and something in my peripheral vision grabs my attention. I see this guy setting up his video camera and pointing it right at Julianne and I. I turn and point my camera at him to take his picture--wondering if he'll take the hint and stop filming us . . . nope. He thinks we're bonding or something . . . I imagine that I've been on the local Buddhist TV news as a foreign Buddhist that came all the way out to Chuncheon for the parade . . . . I wonder if this is one of those rare times in Korea where my shaved head actually draws positive comments, lol.

After the parade Julianne says she wants ice-cream so we head over to Baskin Robins.

Julianne points out a box we've never seen before. The English is funny . . .

After getting our ice-cream we head back towards the taxi stand that is near the main intersection of Chuncheon. I take some pics of the lanterns and pagoda . . .

We then head home to enjoy our ice-cream and feel the happy love . . .


J