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2011 Taekwondo World Championships (세계태권도선수권 대회)

03/07/2011 – 17:18
Official Taekwondo World Championships Poster (from 2011taewondo.org)

Official Taekwondo World Championships Poster (from 2011taewondo.org)

Recent visitors to Gyeongju might be a bit befuddled by the flashy banners hung all over town proclaiming “2011 Gyeongju WTF!”  No, this is not another misguided English marketing slogan sponsored by the Gyeongju Tourism Board (“Historopia” anyone?).  And if you stop sniggering for a minute, I’ll be happy to explain.  This spring Gyeongju is proudly hosting the 2011 World Championships of the World Taekwondo Federation.  But then, you probably already guessed that from the title of this post. read more »

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Winter News: Martial Arts Demos, AREX and More

02/01/2011 – 00:01
Seonmudo Demo, Golgulsa Temple (photo by Andrew Peet)

Seonmudo Demo, Golgulsa Temple (photo by Andrew Peet)

If you’ve not seen the signs around town recently, Golgulsa Temple (골굴사) has started hosting daily demonstrations of Seonmudo (선무도), or “Zen Martial Arts.”   Golgulsa has been the center of a Seonmudo revival over the last few decades, so the demos are free and are scheduled for both 11 am and 3 pm every day except Monday.  I’ve visited Golgulsa many times over the years and have had the pleasure of seeing a few demos before (in fact I posted a video of one back in August).   But my brother-in-law was visiting last week, so we stopped by to check it out on our way back from King Munmu’s tomb at the coast. read more »

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Top 10 Events Around Gyeongju in 2011

01/21/2011 – 10:15
Daeboreum Full Moon Bonfire Festival 2010

Daeboreum Full Moon Bonfire Festival 2010

It seems like local events have a way of sneaking up on me around here.  I try my best, but I have a way of hearing about them right before, or worse, just after they happen.  As my New Year’s resolution is to get a head of things for a change, here’s a list of my top 10 local events to look forward to during the next year:

1. Daeboreum (대보름) Full Moon Bonfire Festival: Slated this year for Thursday Feb. 17th, Daeboreum celebrates the first full moon after Solnal (설날), or the Lunar New Year.  If it’s anything like years past, the city government will set up a huge bonfire in the parking lot by the river, across from the Express (시위) Bus Terminal.  Around 5:30 or 6:00 pm they’ll light up the bonfire, and while it burns people play “gangang  sulae” (강강수래) folk games and sing songs.  It’s a fun evening out so bring your camera or just come and join in the games. read more »

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The Homigot (호미곶) New Years Sunrise Festival

12/21/2010 – 16:22
Hand of Harmony, Homigot Sunrise Plaza

Hand of Harmony, Homigot Sunrise Plaza

For most westerners, New Years Eve means late night parties with friends or family (and usually booze) where we count down the seconds to midnight and ring in the New Year with cheering and fanfare.  Korea has a different, if no less alcoholic, way of ringing in the New Year.   Every December 31st thousands of Koreans brave the freezing cold and flock to various beaches and mountain peaks where the stay up all night to watch the first sunrise of the New Year.  You may not know, but one of the most popular spots in the country for greeting the sun on January 1st isn’t far from Gyeongju:  The Homigot Sunrise Plaza (호미곷해맞이공원). read more »

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Gyeongju Weekend Events: G20, Golgulsa Festival & Moonlight Walk

10/21/2010 – 11:34

 

G20 Comes to Bomun Resort (image from english.yonhapnews.co.kr/)

G20 Comes to Bomun Resort (image from english.yonhapnews.co.kr/)

Bomun Resort G20 Summit

This weekend is going to be a bit crazy around Gyeongju.  There’s a lot of stuff going on, and some of it sounds pretty cool (and some of it not really).  For starters, we’ve all heard about the G20 kicking off in Seoul, but you might not know that there’s a separate G20 summit going down this weekend at Gyeongju’s own Bomun Lake Resort.  This summit is reserved solely for the C.F.O.s of the member countries and will focus primarily on tweaking the nuts and bolts of the global economy. read more »

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Video: Zen Action Painting (초대선묵전)

09/24/2010 – 12:18

I was sorting through my video archives a while back and discovered some great footage from one of my first visits to Gyeongju back in the Spring of 2003.   I had stumbled into a Korea-Japan Buddhist Culture Festival in Tumuli Park and was lucky enough to catch the performance of the famed Korean Zen Master Beomju Sunim (법주스님), painting a spontaneous portrait of the Dalma (달마), or Bodhidharma, on a 10′ by 15’ sheet on the ground.  The video’s a bit shaky as I was shooting over people’s heads, so I’ve edited from 10 minutes video down to a more watchable 3 and 1/2.  I hope you enjoy it and if you’d like to check out more of the work of Beomju Sunim, you can visit the art and video galleries on his website.  He’s also got an English page with his biography and philosophy of Zen painting. read more »

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Fall Festivals and Events

09/06/2010 – 22:44
Andong Mask Dance Festival (image from maskdance.com)

Andong Mask Dance Festival (image from maskdance.com)

Every Korean knows that Fall brings the best weather to the peninsula.  It’s not stifling hot nor freezing cold and you aren’t plagued with the pollen and yellow dust brought by Spring.  And thanks to all this great weather, every city and town in Korea has to host some sort of festival.  Most of them are pretty cool, though a few get a little wacky, like the Gangyeong Fermented Seafood Festival. read more »

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Dongguk University Lantern Lighting: 2010 Highlights

05/18/2010 – 10:07
Samulnori Dancers, Dongguk University Gyeongju

Samulnori Dancers, Dongguk University Gyeongju

I mentioned a few weeks ago Dongguk University held it’s lantern-lighting ceremony in honor of Buddha’s Birthday on April 29th.  As it turned out, the 29th was also declared a National Day or Mourning in honor of the 46 sailors who died in the sinking of the “Cheonan” on March 26th. Unfortunately this meant all celebrations had to be canceled or seriously toned down out of respect for the solemnity of the occasion.   The ceremony still went on, but without the usual festive barrage of balloons, lanterns and fireworks. read more »

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Dongguk Lantern Lighting Ceremony: Thursday, April 29th

04/26/2010 – 18:29
Dongguk University Lantern Parade 2009

Dongguk University Lantern Parade 2009

We’re almost to the end of April which means we’re just a month away from my favorite Korean Holiday: Buddha’s Birthday, or Seokgatanssinil (석가탄신일). This year Buddha’s Birthday falls on Friday, May 21st and all of the temples around town are getting ready to hang their lanterns.  As a Buddhist school, Dongguk University is preparing for its annual lantern-lighting ceremony this Thursday evening, April 29th.  It’s open to the public, so if you’re local or passing through town this Thursday, you should definitely come down and check it out.  I went last year and it was pretty cool.  read more »

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More Gyeongju 2010 Liquor & Ddeok Festival (경주술과떡잔치)

04/22/2010 – 11:37

 

2010 Liquor and Ddeok Festival, Gyeongju

2010 Liquor and Ddeok Festival, Gyeongju

It’s Thursday morning which means that we’re down to the final day of the Gyeongju Liquor & Ddeok Festival (경주술과떡잔치) in Hwangseong Park. Unfortunately I missed the Festival’s kickoff Saturday, though I hear it was packed with people and the weather was gorgeous.  By the time I got down there on Monday, this week-long bout of dreary weather had already set in.  read more »

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