This weekend (April 13-14), I went to a Buddhist Temple to celebrate Songkran, or Thai New Year, and to the Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival. As someone not a part of either culture, it was an eye-opening experience and I highly recommend anyone to go and participate in these festivities whilst learning about them. Many may fear being labeled a cultural “vulture” or appropriator, but at both of these events, so many different people came to enjoy basking in another’s culture. Not only this, but the host culture also accepted them! In fact, this is probably more aligned with cultural appreciation so long as no negative judgment is expressed.
To go more in-depth, I went to Wat Mongkoltepuneee Buddist Temple in Bensalem. When I first arrived, I was surprised at all the tents set up and the overall architecture of the temple. With a white foundation and accented with red and gold, the temples looked grand. I am currently rewatching Avatar the Last Airbender and after looking at everything, I can see where the creators took inspiration from. The traditional clothing that some people wore were very reflective of those worn in the Fire Nation. The temples also looked very similar to what I would expect a real-life Fire Nation building to look like. The monks at the temples leading the prayers wore very similar if not the exact clothing that Aang wears as well. I attended the morning prayer and whilst I do not affiliate with any religion, it was nice to experience. I had also attended a Christian church earlier in the week and comparing the two religions’ methods of prayer gave me a deeper understanding of what faith is. The tents and vendors were all super friendly and accepting of outsiders and the activities there to symbolize prosperity and good health were similar in message to my Chinese culture, but different in expression.
The Subaru Cherry Blossom festival occurred on a relatively nice, but windy day. There was one time where a tent was knocked over due to the wind and a vendor’s art pieces flew all over the place. But I like to think that those events added character to the event. We started off watching the performances by the KyoDaiko and then the Yosakoi performances. The drums were reverberating and very catchy. I could feel the vibrations throughout my body and watching the art was spectacular. And the Yosakoi performances demonstrated traditional Japanese dance choreography through different and modern styles such as hip hop and jazz. There was also a section where we were able to line dance with the performers; a mini-concert is what I would call it. I danced along with them and they definitely pumped my energy enough to stroll around Fairmount Park to see the Sakura trees and visit vendors. The performers made me envious of their talent. I wonder if I started young if I could have potentially participated in these performances as well. The event was super fun and people of all ages, genders, and ethnicity was there since music and appreciation of cherry blossoms are universal.