South Korea Fun Fact #2:
- I am not a smoker. I despise smokers. I think it's disgusting. Saying that, my bathroom constantly smells like cigarette smoke. When I mentioned this to my co-worker (who lives in the same building as I do), she said her bathroom always smells like smoke as well. She said, and I quote, "Korean men like to smoke a cigarette when they take a shit.", and therefore, since the apartments in my building are stacked like a Jenga tower, the smoke from one guys bathroom (who is apparently taking a shit) comes through the vent in my bathroom, making it smell like disgusting cigarettes. Yay.
I've been getting around a lot more lately, and I've also started writing a few blogs here and there and bailed on them last minute (the most recent one was me basically bitching out my fellow travellin' American brethren...but I decided it lacked tact - especially because I was upset when I was writing it - so I'll keep that blog to just this...I don't know why I hang out with 95% of the Americans I do here. I travel to get away from Americans, so what the hell am I doing with them in Korea?!)
Anyways, rant over.
Yesterday, I experienced my first non-American wedding. Well, it was half-American since the groom hails from Maine, but it had more Korean influence than American.
It's been 7 years since I've been to a friend's wedding. (I only know this as my friend posted that it was their 7-year anniversary last week, I don't think I would have guessed correctly how long it's been otherwise - time flies when you're a ramblin' woman). It's not that I haven't wanted to be at any other weddings. Many of my friends have taken that aisle walk in the last 7 years...It's just that I've been, well, a ramblin' woman! I'm actually quite sad that I've missed out on most of my friends' weddings, but that's one of the many sacrifices I chose to make when I alighted on this journey of mine.
Not having been to many weddings in my lifetime, I thought the Korean wedding was similar in some ways to a traditional American one. Besides the fact that you're sitting at your circular dinner table during the ceremony and there are MC's to tell you what's happening (this wasn't just in English, it was in Korean as well) "Next, the bride and groom are going to bow to show their appreciation for each other."...."Now the bride and groom will read a requisition of love to each other...", that sort of thing. The ceremony only lasted about 15 or 20 minutes, all the while a woman was adjusting the bride's dress.
After the ceremony, we had a lovely Korean meal while the beautiful couple took their pictures with friends and family. All the while, that woman was still adjusting the bride's dress. I think her CV/resume reads "professional wedding dress adjuster". The picture-taking expedition is a process and a half! When it was time for the work friends to take a picture, I swear it took 20 minutes with a million different poses! I felt bad for the couple as I'm sure they were starving at that point.
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| Just after the "I do's" |
The bride wore a typical American/European white wedding dress and the groom a tuxedo. After the pictures, they changed into traditional Korean costumes, which were really beautiful!
There was no reception, no dancing or any of that other wedding stuff. Just a ceremony and dinner that lasted maybe 3 hours - and that was pushing it (besides the family, we were the last ones there). A small group of us met with the bride and groom afterwards at a chicken pub. That was nice as I was able to meet a few of the bride's Korean friends (the bride was my Head Teacher at school, her husband is the Head Teacher at the high school branch of our school, so although I know him, I was there more for her).
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| The beautiful bride in her traditional Korean dress! |
All in all, it was a lovely day and a beautiful wedding! It was also held in Gangnam - which if you haven't heard the Gangnam Style song, count yourself lucky - and I'm also assuming you live under a rock. Gangnam is the high-end, Beverly Hills of Seoul.
Just a side note: my American co-worker told me what to expect at a Korean wedding: the sitting at your dinner table, MC's, the "professional wedding dress adjuster", the intense photo session. The entire time, she complained about how weird it was...she fucking knew what to expect!! Ugh. See my comment above about hanging out with other Americans in foreign countries.
Happy Trails!
Here's some sexy Billy Idol. Just for you.
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