On Sunday, Emily and I went to church and then to my co-teacher’s wedding. It was our very first Korean wedding and it was quite different. Firstly, the wedding is held at a hall, as are most weddings here. The hall will often include everything (food, photographer, hall, etc.) and it’s actually not too bad for price (about $1500 for the whole thing, I think). It’s here that the differences start. To prevent extended narrative, I’ll post in point form.
Brides rent dresses instead of buying. (Really – when are you going to wear your wedding dress again?)
You get the hall for one hour. Previous wedding finishes, bride & guests walk out, new guests & bride walk in.
Wedding pictures are done months in advance, include only the couple and are photoshopped to the nines. You’ll have a picture in France, in a forest, with angel wings, in a pink outfit, in traditional Korean clothes, etc. (The photoshopping doesn’t stop at location, though – cheapest plastic surgery ever. Face, moles, teeth, arms (get rid of the flab), waist, boobs, butt, smile, head shape, hair – anything & everything. Wedding pictures often look surprisingly nothing like the person.
You can take a picture with the bride for 30 minutes before the wedding. She sits on a bench in a little room, you go in, take the picture with her and leave.
Generally, a teacher or boss-type person does the ceremony. They talk a little bit about the groom, a little bit about the bride, give some tips on a happy marriage. My favorite part: the guy kept clearing his throat and horking right into the mike.
There is no cake cutting, kiss, garter toss, or signing of the register.
The mothers walk down the aisle first, light the candles and leave. Then the groom walks down (to the tune of “Here Comes the Bride”) and then the bride (to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne”). People may or may not be sitting at this point. Chances are good people will watch this part of the wedding and then continue their conversation or leave.
The bride & groom have two wedding hall workers salute them with swords as they walk down the aisle. After the wedding, as they walk back, the wedding hall workers shoot streamers out of big trumpet looking things.
After the ceremony, there are 3 quick photos at the front of the hall: new couple, new couple & family, new couple & friends. Everybody stand up there (stairs make it easier), smile, 2 pictures, finished and next.
I was the only guy on the bride’s side of the friends. Emily & I were the only foreigners in the building.
My other co-teacher got chosen to catch the bouquet. In Korea, one person is chosen and, after the picture with friends, they stand in front of everyone and catch the bouquet. All of the friends clap. You might have to do a couple of tries in order to get the best picture. Also, if you are chosen to catch the bouquet, you have 6 months to get married, or else you will never get married. (Talk about pressure!)
You give a gift of money (either before, during or after the wedding). Occasionally a present. Sometimes your ticket to eat is based on the size of your gift.
Once the wedding is finished, everybody (minus the new couple & family) go upstairs to the buffet, hand in your meal ticket and sit with the guests from every other wedding of the day to eat.
The new couple then goes and changes into traditional Korean clothes, bows to the parents and they may come up to the food hall to say hello/goodbye. Maybe not.
Interesting and different, to say the least. It’s faster (start to finish, including meal – 90 – 120 minutes) and probably cheaper. It’s a lot busier and more noisy in the actual hall and everything does appear a little rushed to the Western eye. An interesting experience, to say the least. I was really thankful for my co-teacher who sat with Emily & I for the ceremony and dinner. She translated for us and explained what was going on.
After the wedding, Emily and I went shopping and then Emily met some friends for coffee & Dr. Fish (these little fish that eat the dead skin off of your feet, or whatever part of your body you put into the water). I joined them for dinner, came home, finished my lesson for Monday and called it a night.
All in all, an eventful weekend!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The Bake Sale & The (Almost) Free Trip to Hong Kong
The Bake Sale & The (Almost) Free Trip To Hong Kong
It was an eventful weekend, this past weekend. On Friday, Emily & I went out for dinner & a movie (date night!). We went and saw “I Am Legend” and it was quite good. The premise was fairly straight forward and it had some good scenes. The ending was a bit of a let down, but it was a good see.
Afterwards, we were waiting for the bus and a few high school boys came and talked to us for about 15 minutes or so. They were hilarious and sweet and you could tell they just wanted someone to pay good attention to them. Sometimes, the random conversations can get a little frustrating but this one was definitely one of the “that’s why I’m in Korea” moments.
Saturday was a bake sale put on by one of the foreigners here. He’s got fingers in a lot of things (an import food store, a speakeasy, an orphanage, a school and his own family) and he organized the bake sale to facilitate the transmission of Christmas baking as well as funds for the orphanage. Emily & I made a few dozen cookies and brought them. I think the biggest customers of the bake sale were the contributors. We bought chocolate coconut sponge cake, butter tarts, brittle, cranberry macadamia nut cookies, smartie cheesecake squares and lemon squares. Oh, and cream cheese icing. Amazing cream cheese icing.
In between dropping off the cookies and buying the food (they needed time to set up), we went to a dog café with our friend Stu. You walk into this place and the first thing that greets you is about six dogs of various breeds. You go to one of these places and pay $4 as an entrance fee (includes a free hot or cold beverage) and play with the dogs and cats there. They’re all incredibly tame and it really scratches the dog itch, if you know what I mean. As soon as Stu sat down, a dog jumped up beside him and one on his lap and they both instantly went to sleep. Emily sat with a little Pomeranian, a poodle and some sort of spaniel. I sat with a horse dog (I don’t know the breed, but that’s what it looked like). It’s relaxing in a dog sort of a way.
After the dog café, I got a call from one of the education office people (if my boss was my parent, this guy would be my uncle) and he wanted to know if I wanted to go to Hong Kong with some students for a study trip. My first instinct was “Free trip to Hong Kong – absolutely!” Unfortunately, I have another obligation at the same time so I had to decline. Not every day a free trip jumps in your lap like some tame dog.
Saturday evening, Emily & I had respective parties: a guys party and a girls party. Emily, Vanessa, Meena, Katie and Dawn made gingerbread houses at Vanessa’s house and Justin, Bobby, Dave, Hang-ju, Tae-won, Jae-gong, Leck and I played N64 and cards for the evening. Heaps of fun!
It was an eventful weekend, this past weekend. On Friday, Emily & I went out for dinner & a movie (date night!). We went and saw “I Am Legend” and it was quite good. The premise was fairly straight forward and it had some good scenes. The ending was a bit of a let down, but it was a good see.
Afterwards, we were waiting for the bus and a few high school boys came and talked to us for about 15 minutes or so. They were hilarious and sweet and you could tell they just wanted someone to pay good attention to them. Sometimes, the random conversations can get a little frustrating but this one was definitely one of the “that’s why I’m in Korea” moments.
Saturday was a bake sale put on by one of the foreigners here. He’s got fingers in a lot of things (an import food store, a speakeasy, an orphanage, a school and his own family) and he organized the bake sale to facilitate the transmission of Christmas baking as well as funds for the orphanage. Emily & I made a few dozen cookies and brought them. I think the biggest customers of the bake sale were the contributors. We bought chocolate coconut sponge cake, butter tarts, brittle, cranberry macadamia nut cookies, smartie cheesecake squares and lemon squares. Oh, and cream cheese icing. Amazing cream cheese icing.
In between dropping off the cookies and buying the food (they needed time to set up), we went to a dog café with our friend Stu. You walk into this place and the first thing that greets you is about six dogs of various breeds. You go to one of these places and pay $4 as an entrance fee (includes a free hot or cold beverage) and play with the dogs and cats there. They’re all incredibly tame and it really scratches the dog itch, if you know what I mean. As soon as Stu sat down, a dog jumped up beside him and one on his lap and they both instantly went to sleep. Emily sat with a little Pomeranian, a poodle and some sort of spaniel. I sat with a horse dog (I don’t know the breed, but that’s what it looked like). It’s relaxing in a dog sort of a way.
After the dog café, I got a call from one of the education office people (if my boss was my parent, this guy would be my uncle) and he wanted to know if I wanted to go to Hong Kong with some students for a study trip. My first instinct was “Free trip to Hong Kong – absolutely!” Unfortunately, I have another obligation at the same time so I had to decline. Not every day a free trip jumps in your lap like some tame dog.
Saturday evening, Emily & I had respective parties: a guys party and a girls party. Emily, Vanessa, Meena, Katie and Dawn made gingerbread houses at Vanessa’s house and Justin, Bobby, Dave, Hang-ju, Tae-won, Jae-gong, Leck and I played N64 and cards for the evening. Heaps of fun!
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Preaching & Bread
Emily & I both preached today, I at our home church and Emily at a church in Mokpo. Both sermons went well, though I had one lady ask why I didn't finish all of my prayers with "In Jesus' name, Amen." Apparently, in Korea, they always end their prayers that way. I told her it was a cultural thing and we didn't always finish prayers that way. She wasn't too sure about my answer, and so I said I would try to remember that in the future, which made her a lot happier. In the end, it's not really a big deal either way. Hopefully she got more out of the sermon than that.
We then hopped on a train and went out to the church where Emily would preach. In order to not be late, we have to arrive about 90 minutes early what with the train schedule and all. The worship team was practicing when we got there and there were a few other people that were also there early. One lady wanted to take Emily and I hiking up a mountain for 10 minutes before church started (translate: no less than 45 minutes, in my opinion). Instead, we settled on going "out for bread." Koreans are convinced that all foreigners love bread and, compared to their regular diet, it's true.
However, Korean bakeries often leave something to be desired. Worse still is when they include something that was never desired. The most common surprise fillings are red bean paste and sweet potato paste. In addition, every bread is white and every baked good is sweet, even garlic bread and other non-sweet things. In short, going out for bread was a little intimidating. We said yes, however, and to the bakery we went.
We got some sort of round thing that was supposed to be an apple type bread, cream cheese baguette and fig yogurt for drinking. We went to the little sitting area (convenience stores and bakeries alike almost all have an area for you to sit and eat your stuff, 7-11 included) and we ate. The stuff was all much better than we feared and we had a nice chat.
We went back to the church and Emily preached her sermon marvelously. I was very proud of her and it went really well - rebuke free, even. The people at the Mokpo church are amazing - they're all so kind and there's a wonderful feeling of community there. Everybody just seems to care and want to engage with you. If I had to guess, that feeling increases inversely proportional (love that phrase!) to the size of the church. Bigger the church, less the attitude of universal caring. In that way, small churches are amazing.
We got back on the train and I finished up my lesson for tomorrow and then just enjoyed the ride. Our apartment was a bit of a mess when we got home so we cleaned it up, I made ham/egg/cheese bagels for a snack, finished my lesson on the computer and Emily packed up all our meat from Costco yesterday and put it in the freezer. Portioning is the best.
All in all, a grand weekend though busy and tiring. Hopefully I'll get a day off this week because of tests! It's been almost two weeks since my last holiday, so I think I deserve one now. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until next week when we get the Wednesday off because of the federal election. (Good idea, no? Statutory holiday for election day. I like!)
Mmm... holiday.
We then hopped on a train and went out to the church where Emily would preach. In order to not be late, we have to arrive about 90 minutes early what with the train schedule and all. The worship team was practicing when we got there and there were a few other people that were also there early. One lady wanted to take Emily and I hiking up a mountain for 10 minutes before church started (translate: no less than 45 minutes, in my opinion). Instead, we settled on going "out for bread." Koreans are convinced that all foreigners love bread and, compared to their regular diet, it's true.
However, Korean bakeries often leave something to be desired. Worse still is when they include something that was never desired. The most common surprise fillings are red bean paste and sweet potato paste. In addition, every bread is white and every baked good is sweet, even garlic bread and other non-sweet things. In short, going out for bread was a little intimidating. We said yes, however, and to the bakery we went.
We got some sort of round thing that was supposed to be an apple type bread, cream cheese baguette and fig yogurt for drinking. We went to the little sitting area (convenience stores and bakeries alike almost all have an area for you to sit and eat your stuff, 7-11 included) and we ate. The stuff was all much better than we feared and we had a nice chat.
We went back to the church and Emily preached her sermon marvelously. I was very proud of her and it went really well - rebuke free, even. The people at the Mokpo church are amazing - they're all so kind and there's a wonderful feeling of community there. Everybody just seems to care and want to engage with you. If I had to guess, that feeling increases inversely proportional (love that phrase!) to the size of the church. Bigger the church, less the attitude of universal caring. In that way, small churches are amazing.
We got back on the train and I finished up my lesson for tomorrow and then just enjoyed the ride. Our apartment was a bit of a mess when we got home so we cleaned it up, I made ham/egg/cheese bagels for a snack, finished my lesson on the computer and Emily packed up all our meat from Costco yesterday and put it in the freezer. Portioning is the best.
All in all, a grand weekend though busy and tiring. Hopefully I'll get a day off this week because of tests! It's been almost two weeks since my last holiday, so I think I deserve one now. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until next week when we get the Wednesday off because of the federal election. (Good idea, no? Statutory holiday for election day. I like!)
Mmm... holiday.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
The Road Trip
We took a road trip today to Costco. Yes, Costco is road trip worthy here. The nearest one is about 2 hours away and it's a vital source of things like cheddar cheese, dill pickles, nacho chips and Australian beef. (Korean beef is expensive and American is controversial and therefore demand is sporadic at best.)
We rented a van, hopped in with three of our friends and drove north for two hours to Daejeon. the van was a 9 seater so we had more than enough room. It was a diesel, which cost about $1.60 a liter, so it was $75 to fill up. Pricey, but about the same in the end as all of us taking the train (including the cost of rental and tolls). Also GPS. I will never drive in Korea without GPS. Roads don't have names here - intersections do. Ergo, it's impossible to navigate in a city you have never been to as there is no logical system by which to do so.
Anyway, thanks to the GPS (best $10 I ever spent), we got there fine. We ate well, bought lots and came home. We almost died only once, which is really good for Korea. It was my first time driving on the mainland, so it was a little nerve wracking at first but it was a lot of fun in the end. The weather was perfect, the friends were good and the food is always nice to have in the house.
Good times!
Oh, yeah, and Emily and I are preaching at two separate churches tomorrow: me at our home church and Emily at a church in Mokpo, a smaller city outside of Gwangju. This is my second time at our home church and Emily's third time in Mokpo. We both occasionally preach in both of these churches, and tomorrow is the first time our days overlap. If you think of it, please keep us in prayer! Thanks!
We rented a van, hopped in with three of our friends and drove north for two hours to Daejeon. the van was a 9 seater so we had more than enough room. It was a diesel, which cost about $1.60 a liter, so it was $75 to fill up. Pricey, but about the same in the end as all of us taking the train (including the cost of rental and tolls). Also GPS. I will never drive in Korea without GPS. Roads don't have names here - intersections do. Ergo, it's impossible to navigate in a city you have never been to as there is no logical system by which to do so.
Anyway, thanks to the GPS (best $10 I ever spent), we got there fine. We ate well, bought lots and came home. We almost died only once, which is really good for Korea. It was my first time driving on the mainland, so it was a little nerve wracking at first but it was a lot of fun in the end. The weather was perfect, the friends were good and the food is always nice to have in the house.
Good times!
Oh, yeah, and Emily and I are preaching at two separate churches tomorrow: me at our home church and Emily at a church in Mokpo, a smaller city outside of Gwangju. This is my second time at our home church and Emily's third time in Mokpo. We both occasionally preach in both of these churches, and tomorrow is the first time our days overlap. If you think of it, please keep us in prayer! Thanks!
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