Gwangju International Center

 

Cultivating Reverence: Hwasun Culture Tour

 

By Laura Becker

 

Many expats in Korea want opportunities to travel, but are unsure where to go or what to see.  Certainly, this is my experience as someone who has only been living in Gwangju for a few months.  GIC Tour opens my eyes to the wonders that are around me in Korea and introduces me to people and places that I would never discover on my own.  Bypassing the typical tourist destinations, GIC Tour takes participants on an intimate journey into history and culture with tour guide Warren’s excellent teaching.  Instead of rushing to have experiences, gobbling up people and places with no thought for how our tourism affects them, Warren crafts tours that feel respectful and reverent towards Korea and its people.  By knowing more about the history, we can begin to see things instead of just looking at them.

 

The November GIC Culture Tour to Hwasun was a welcome respite from my normal routine.  The GIC staff and interns put a lot of work into planning the annual two-day, one-night tour, and their efforts paid off.  We had a medium-sized group of both expats and local Koreans; I appreciate the opportunity to meet new people through GIC Tour.

 

The tour started with a makgeolli making experience.  Our host, a middle-aged man with three beautiful children, quit farming to pursue his passion.  He taught us about the process of making makgeolli and let us plunge our hands into massive bowls of rice, water, and nuruk, a kind of yeast used in the fermentation process.  After mixing the ingredients, we sampled some makgeolli and handmade red bean cakes made with the nuruk, which results in an exceptionally soft and healthy bread.  I like the fact that GIC Tour staff carefully selects local artisans to support, which is beneficial for them and certainly for us.

 

Next, we ate a delicious lunch of smoked duck and visited Mulyeomjung to see the lovely scenery of red cliffs.  The beauty of the land inspired many poets, including Kim Sat-gat, the “Rainhat Poet.”  We had some time to relax at Mulyeomjung and enjoy our surroundings.  

 

The main focus of the tour was our temple stay program at Ssangbong Temple.  When we arrived at the small temple, which seems to have been dropped suddenly in the middle of a rice field, one of the monks gave us loose pants and vests to wear and showed us to our rooms, which were clean and spacious.  We attended a Buddhist service and learned about the significance of things like ringing the giant bell thirty-three times.  The head monk also hosted us for a tea time after dinner.  This was one of my favorite parts about the tour.  We sipped lotus tea from white porcelain cups and learned from the monk as he told us about some tenets of Buddhism and aspects of life at the temple.  To me, meditating for days and bowing 3,000 times sounds like torture, so I admire the devotion of the monks.  The head monk, who has been practicing for twenty-five years, is an unforgettable person who radiates happiness and peace.  His face is the picture of serenity and kindness, and being able to ask him questions and visit with him was a special experience.  

 

We went to sleep early and were awoken at 4:00 a.m. by one of the monks ringing a gong outside our doors.  Long before the sun rose, we did 108 bows and meditation.  The monks showed us some of the temple’s national treasures as we walked around the temple grounds in the cool of the morning.  After breakfast, we were able to try our hands at dancheong, the style of painting seen on the eaves of temples.  Painting was very relaxing and it was nice to do something hands-on and receive a tangible reminder of our experience at the temple—we each kept the small pieces of wood that we painted.  In addition, the monks showered us with other gifts like pens and pocket notebooks.  I felt welcomed because of their warmth and hospitality.

 

After we left the temple, we visited UNESCO Dolmen Park.  We were able to stretch our legs as we trekked and learned about the Neolithic stone tombs created thousands of years ago as memorials for the dead.    The last part of our tour was an invigorating lunch of black goat stew, a spicy concoction that stirred our blood, brought sweat to our faces, and gave us energy for our re-entrance into our normal lives.