International Seon(zen) Center, Seoul

Last Sunday, I drove a little over 50 km to reach the International Seon Center(국제선세터). As I understand, the International Seon Center aims to connect with foreigners and Koreans speaking English.

Scale Model of the Center

Last year, during our visit to Gangwa Island, had met a monk from the International Seon Center. A visit had been playing in my mind for the last many months. Considering the distance, I waited until I was alone in Korea! Though, until now, I have not yet visited the most important Buddhist temples in Korea, I have a huge fascination for the elegant temple architecture. I did read an observation somewhere that once you have been to a Korean Buddhist temple, you have visited all temples- a sly comment on the similarity in architecture of temples here.

I had been asked to reach by 12 noon so as to have lunch at the center and then attend the meditation experience as well as Dhamma talk. Feeling a tad too hesitant to go over and eat on my own, I went over to the office and someone there took me over to the Dining floor, all the while talking in English. These days, since I talk with all and sundry with my bad Korean, I find it a little odd talking in English with Koreans!!!

It is always a peasure getting to eat Korean food- so rare to find vegan options! I got to eat Jajang bap - Rice with Black Bean Sauce(자장밥). Quite delicious!

Having some free time I went around clicking pictures and reading a book I had brought along.

I met Ven. Bo-Kwan, the nun who is responsible for foreigners. After guiding us on the meditative method, we had to meditate for an hour!Was too tough for me. And tougher, not to feel too relaxed and fall asleep, after lunch!

After meditation, we had dhamma talk while sipping green tea! Teachings from the nun's teacher's discourses are read in English and then discussed.

It was quite an eventful Sunday afternoon!

Links:

Homepage: www.seoncenter.or.kr
Address: 
319-11, Sinjeong 6-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul 158-076


우158-076, 서울 양천구 신정6동 319-11


Phone: +82-2-2650-2241

Day Trip to Jeonju(전주시)

Saturday, 28th May, saw me join a group of foreigners(employees, family, friends) for a day trip to Jeonju city ( about 180 km from Suwon and the capital of  Jeolla Bukdo or North Jeolla Province.

This trip was organized by the company with the help of Webtour. 

We were 42 people coming together for this special trip. 

It is always a tough job organizing an English tour in Korea!

And, since I had not been to Jeonju before, I was looking forward to this trip.

Leaving the company almost close to the original starting time of 8 am was quite a miracle;)

There was hardly any traffic and in about 2 hours we reached the Cheonjangho suspension bridge (천장호 출렁다리). It is Asia's second largest and was constructed as a means to encourage tourism in the area a couple of years back.  

 

 

The lake and  bridge together looked breathtaking! I especially loved the quietness in the air.

 

 

 

 

Rural areas have such freshness in the air. From there, it was time to move on to Jeonju city.

Our lunch was the most famous export from that area- Jeonju Bibimbaap. Despite my prior requests, the staff at the restaurant ended up serving me with egg in the middle of the bibimbaap bowl.

 It took our tour contact person some explanation to tell them to make the dish newly rather than just remove the egg. It is so tough for Koreans to explain vegetarian/vegan way of living. With a wider variety of foreigners coming over to Korea, things should surely brighten up on that front! 

Coming back to the bibimbaap, it was delicious!

 After lunch it was time to move to the Hanok Maeul (Village of Korean Traditional Houses ). We had an interesting tour of the historical complex in the vicinity. 

 

Jeonju has this beautiful area with Hanoks and with people actually living in many of them. Some of them have been turned into home stays, galleries, tea houses, etc..We walked into 공예공방촐 지담(paper craft workshop?) inside a hanok to paste Hanji( korean traditional paper) and make a fruit tray. It gave me a self-made memento!

 

 

We had some free time before going back to Suwon and I spent time walking around the area and taking pictures. I simply loved the architecture of these traditional houses! 

This trip gave me a glimpse of Jeonju. The roads were not crowded and the rural landscapes were refreshing. Good excuse to go on a  long drive later!I look forward to going there on my own staying overnight in a hanok and having a look at the tourist places in and around the city. A day trip is just too short to pack in all tourist places. And, especially with forty odd people together, bridge+historical tour+paper activity made  decent mix.

Resources:

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

Jeonju Travel Info (Visit Korea link)

Reaching CheonJangHo Suspension Bridge (in Korean)

Paper Craft WorkShop Contact: 

공예공방촐 지담 

Phone:063-231-1253