Lunar New Year

February 7th was New Year, welcoming us into the year of the rat.

It's a family focused celebration, where the young bow to their dead ancestors and receive money. They eat rice cake and soup, visit temples and leave flowers at the cemetaries. It's not the firework and parades you see on the news.

New Years day I went to Beomosa Temple, walking the 40 or so minutes through the forest instead of taking yet another bus. Locals took off their shoes and prayed at the Buddah shrines. I took pictures.

After, when returning to the subway, a mass of thousands of people we're walking up and down one road. The people walking up were somber, those going down were shopping at a variety of street venders and makeshift food stalls (mostly being silk worm larva and flesh on a stick). Where did this road go? So,I went to to find myself at the cemetary. Me and 10,000 of my best friends.

It's odd, though, how often I am the only foreigner around when there are so many here.