First I went to a Buddhist temple, the largest one in Seoul (Buddhism and Christianity are the two most popular religions in South Korea. 54.5% of the country is religious; out of those people, 29.3% are Christian and 22.8% are Buddhist, according to Wikipedia).
Outside were several canopies of paper lanterns.
The lanterns were all handmade. Here are some people making more.
Inside the temple, I heard some chanting begin. I took my shoes off and went inside to check it out. Sitting on the floor near the front was a Monk leading the service.
Dozens of people sat on the floor with pillows while they meditated to the chanting. I took a pillow from a small stack and joined them for awhile.
After the temple I went to Sanchon, a restaurant that serves traditional Buddhist Temple food. The restaurant is somewhat famous and outside there was a poster with some of the press it has received.
Like the Buddhist temple, you take your shoes off before entering. Then you sit at a low table with a pillow on the floor. I didn't find the sitting position too comfortable, but it all added to the experience.
For lunch, there was only one choice on the menu - a full course vegetarian meal in many tiny bowls.
As soon as I thought the waitress had brought all of the food, she brought more.
Then more...
I counted 27 bowls total. I tried to take one bite of everything before getting full (it wasn't easy - 27 bites is still a lot!). A spread like this cost $20 - a bargain I thought for all that food, but considered expensive in Korea. The food was good and I would definitely go back, although next time I will bring someone to share with.
After lunch I headed over to the theater for Butch Jamie's 2nd screening, which had just as good of a response as the first. Compared to my screenings in the U.S., more people wanted to talk about the issues in the film as opposed to the filmmaking process. One question that I thought was particularly interesting was one that asked about Jamie's line in the movie - "Do you believe in truth?"
The idea "Do you believe in truth?" came to me after a friendly discussion out at a bar. I had said something - I don't remember what it was, but something that seemed to surprise my friend with my blatant honesty. I remember saying half-joking, half-serious - "I'm pro-truth!" to which she retorted "I'm pro-good feeling!" It planted something in my head about how not everyone believed in, or was as concerned or enamored with, the way things are.
For me, part of believing in truth means acknowledging and accepting who you are, beyond appearances or false pretenses. For Jamie, she finds truth in choosing herself over her fantasy, and the same choice is presented to Jill as well (which will be followed-up with more in the sequel). When Jamie asks Lola if it's OK if someone believes something that's not true as long as they're happy, Lola responds that real happiness is only possible through truth. So in a way, if I had to say what the theme of the movie is, that would be it - real happiness is only possible through truth. I wish I would've remembered that theme bit when answering that question in the Q&A.
After the screening, I went to see Tick Tock Lullaby from lesbian filmmaker-actress Lisa Gornick. The film explores the ambivalence about having a child, a decision that one may regret either way. It also laments the overly-planned, clinical process that same-sex couples go through. The film is nostalgic and introspective while at the same time witty and smart. I really liked it, although it's gotten some flack from lesbian purists about a lesbian's sex scene with a man.
Here's me and Lisa with a group of festival volunteers who I think may have seen one or both of our movies and liked them.
To conclude my last night in Seoul, a few of us went out for drinks afterward. Lisa and I engaged the rest of our party in a lively discussion about sexuality, identity, and all that other drunken intellectual stuff.
Things I learned today about Korea -
- South Korea has the highest percentage of people with plastic surgery in the world (I checked this fact online which said that by some estimates, as many as four out of every ten women in South Korea have had eyelid surgery to make their eyes appear bigger)
- Because status is tied to age, it's not necessarily a compliment to tell someone they look younger than they are. I'm sure it varies person to person, but a Korean woman I spoke with who is 31 (30 in U.S. age, as I explained in Day #3) had worked hard to style her hair and choose clothes that make her look her age. She thinks that if people think she is younger, they will give her less respect in her job, as well as possibly look down upon the company because of it. After I told her that I thought she looked her age, she humbly said "Thank you." (However, later when someone started to say they thought she was older, she laughed and said that wasn't a compliment)
The next morning I caught the 11AM shuttle back to the airport. I had such a fantastic time in Seoul - a nice balance between touristy sightseeing and engaging in the local nightlife. While I was there, I met a woman from another film festival who mentioned possibly flying me out to another country this Fall. Who knew that Butch Jamie would be my ticket for world travel? Even if the film doesn't make much money, getting to do things like this makes the whole endeavor priceless.
No comments:
Post a Comment