Jongmyo Shrine

On Sunday, Tara and I decided to go to the Jongmyo Shrine to see the annual ancestral rite. It sounded pretty cool when the tour guide described it when Dad and I toured the shrine so I was excited to go see it in person.

There were three parts and we decided to hit the final part: the rite at the actual shrine. We ended up not actually seeing the rite (we got there too late to be let into the sitting area) but the shrine was beautiful and the people we met were awesome.

Allow me to introduce you to our "Shrine Visit Pals."

First, there's Subway Ajushi. He said hi on the subway, asked where we were from, and went on his way. THEN on the way to the shrine, he bumped into us again, said hi, and then we saw him again inside the shrine! How did we recognize him? Why, by his crazy awesome PLAID PANTS that's how! (He's the guy in the green jacket.)



Then we met a guy who pretty much quizzed me on what the Jongmyo Shrine was. It was funny. We asked him which direction to go and as we walked he asked if I knew what the Jongmyo Shrine was. I said yes and he said, "TELL ME." Then he asked where it was and I pointed up ahead. He said "WHERE?" so I told him forward and to the right. Luckily, that guy went away fast. He was kind of creepy.

This seemed like the day to practice your English with the random foreigners because we had a disproportionate number of people talk to us on Sunday. One guy we passed on a park bench asked us where we were from, how long we were here, how was his English, etc.

Then this old lady in a blue coat stopped us and just started talking at us in Korean. We had no idea what was going on. She opened her bag and showed us all these leaf cuttings. I think she was trying to sell us weeds. That was fun. We left and she went up to the guy on the park bench who had talked to us earlier.



Then there was this adorable little cutey in a hanbok asleep on her daddy's shoulder. Too cute!



We walked around the shrine for a while and it was really nice and relaxing. It was a beautiful day with a nice little breeze. Love.

We saw some fun things to take pictures of as well. It being Spring and all, these two little pigeons were getting a little frisky. The gray one seemed like it was getting a little annoyed at how fresh the white guy was getting and kept jumping away and biting his head, which he didn't really like. Ah, Spring.



These old people were sitting quietly on these mats in the park in front of the shrine. Meditating? Praying? Taking a nap? Not sure, but it was interesting.



All these people here were playing something that looked like chess or checkers. A bunch of old guys in the park playing checkers. I guess this is a worldwide tradition. :)



I don't remember who this is a statue of, but he seems pretty important.



Old guy with a cell phone got in my picture. :/



Another fun thing to do was spot the foreigner. We saw this big group of girls taking a picture with a random middle aged guy and we thought, "Oh, maybe he's their teacher or something," but then as they left and thanked him he said, "Nice to meet you!" That was odd.

Now it's your turn! Can you find the white guy?



This one's a little tougher. Spot the white guy!



The shrine really was beautiful. Lots of trees and blooming pink and purple flowers. I love the shape of this tree in the middle of the pond.



Picnic in the park...



We walked around town a bit more and found another lovely spot. It appears they are getting ready for the Lotus Lantern Festival. Doesn't that just look beautiful?



It was a really nice day with fantastic weather. I wish that the weather would stay just the way it is. Not too hot, not too cold, and all you need is a light sweater! ;)

Also, we got free coffee mugs for taking a short survey about the event. Great day. :)