Big weekend, part 2

I know many weekends have come and gone since this one, and perhaps I shouldn't try to narrate my time in Korea and instead just spout off each experience as it happens, but I still feel like this weekend needs closure. After all, the weekends since haven't reached the kind of epic-ness that would require paragraphs of playing catch up.

The few minutes of morning experienced in Mokpo were spent scrambling to make the noon check-out time. Following that, it was more mind-numbing hours spent in transit. In order to pack light, most of us didn't bring a complete change of clothes so we were haggard and hungover for the 1:00 KTX back to Seoul; probably the closest I have ever come to being a bum in a boxcar.

I got back to my apartment at around 6pm. I was barely gone for 32 hours, yet was barely home for 1. I washed up and headed out the door to catch the Lotus Lantern Parade downtown. Here's some of the spectacular floats that awaited me:

Buddha rode in style in a helicopter / DJ booth. It was his birthday after all!

My comrades and I managed to procure some lanterns which in turn led to us being ushered into the parade. Not being ones to scoff at opportunities, we joined in for the entire trek from Dongdaemun to Jonggak, a distance covering a good portion of downtown Seoul. Along the way I saw Gord and his family watching from atop an electrical box. I waved to them.

That's them right in the center.

The parade ended at a huge intersection where a stage was set up and some further festivities were no doubt about to take place. While the Korean version of the Carpenters played their hits, TV stations had cameras on cranes scooting around the crowd filming people (mostly foreigners) clapping along in merriment for a live broadcast. My cadre was not overlooked.

That flash on the left is me taking this picture.

The music was like catnip for old Korean people cause they were dancing with passion! Afterwards, everyone in the entire intersection had to sit down, which meant that, after that point, any attempt to leave would be an awkward exercise in skirting around hundreds of seated people, while sticking out like a sore thumb. It also soon became clear that this show wasn't ending until really late, so we waited until the cameras were trained on some other gaggle of foreigners then stood up and split for the subway station.

THE END.