Jinju Lantern Festival

On Saturday the 11th we went to Jinju, about an hour outside of Suncheon to see the Lantern Festival that happens on the river there. It was so cool! First we went through the market section, got some food and did a little shopping. I got a stamp with my name in Korean engraved on it. Lots of Koreans use these as a signature in their daily life so I thought it would be a cool souvenir. As a bonus we got to hang out with Kyenne, a super cool 2 year old boy. He’s the son of two foreigners who teach here in Suncheon and in Korea he is a rock star! He is crazy cute, even by North American standards but to the Koreans he is fascinating! One woman grabbed him by the face so she could get a look at him! I was told that it happens all the time but actually seeing it was pretty crazy! Some Korean girls even grabbed him for a picture.

After we left the market we headed to the lantern making station. You pay about $3 to write your wish inside a paper lantern, tape it together and set it to float on the river. It was really time consuming to tape it up but well worth it! Aside from the obvious environmental concerns (hundreds of styrofoam plates thrown into a river), it was really cool. After making our wishes we headed down to check out the huge amazing lanterns that are everywhere! In the river were really cool, huge floating lanterns and along the banks of the river were these amazing lanterns that move and one, a dragon, that even blew smoke and fire! Once we saw most of the lanterns we headed up the bank of the river and down a path through a really neat bamboo “forest” to catch the fireworks. They were really elaborate and at one point crazy sparks started shooting down from a bridge over the river. All in all it was a great day and it made me happy to be here in Korea.