Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all throughout Jukjeon

Not a teacher was teaching, not even ILS ones.

Their lessons were planned by the week with care,

In hopes that vacation time soon would be there.

When out from the hall there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the desk to see what was the matter.

Away to the doorway I ran like a savage,

Tore through the lobby to spot a....Christmas package!

Mom had spoken not a word, but went straight to the post,
And sent off the box with great contents to boast.
Four bags of Cheerios, and lots of good tea.
But best, a letter and a Warhall Christmas CD.

I sprang in the air and let out a cheer,
I felt so loved from those far and near.
So I (virtually) exclaim, as I enjoy life's delights,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Missing my family, my friends, my dog, my home, but loving my life and living the dream (to quote one of my new friends).  Thank you to the Warhalls for thinking of me; I'm already loving the latest installation of the best Christmas card series known to humankind! I hope you enjoy my own compilation of, erm, noises...

******Just to be clear, that bird is saying 안녕하세요 (annyeong haseyo) which means 'hello!'******

Something Old, Something New

Saturday morning I woke up at 7:45 and threw on a dress.  Bundled up to meet Warren at a bus stop, and traveled an hour and a half up to northern Seoul, where we attended a Korean wedding! Warren's soccer buddy was getting married, and Warren's girlfriend couldn't make it to the wedding, so I jumped at the opportunity to go on an adventure and dress up! But before we go any further, let's  clarify what I mean by 'wedding'... this was a Korean express wedding.  20 minutes in and out, so the next couple can use the space and tie the knot.

The wedding took place in a large conference center called the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family. There was even a little open coffee shop in the lobby.  Upon walking in I saw three tall floral arrangements, which I now suspect were waiting for the weddings that would occur throughout the day.  Warren picked up a white envelope from the security counter to fill with his cash gift and wrote a little note on the back.  Gifts from friends range from about $30-50.  A man sitting at a desk outside of the International Conference Hall exchanged the envelope for two business cards, and we entered the room.

We sat at a large round table next to the raised center aisle with some other foreign soccer buddies and their dates.  Everything was draped with white-- table cloths, aisle, stage, ceiling-- there were white candles and fake white petals along the aisle, and white pillars topped with white hydrangeas.  The bridal party waited at the end of the aisle, with the mothers of the bride and groom at the lead in their traditional Korean Hanboks. The fathers wore suits, the groom wore a tuxedo, and the bride looked ravishing in her white gown and veil.  There were two women from the conference hall orchestrating the event, another woman that followed the bride around and fussed over the arrangement of her train, and a man announcing the events in sports center fashion.

At 11:02 the mothers walked up the aisle to the stage and lit large white candles on either side.  They bowed to the audience and to each other, eliciting applause from both sides of the room, and descended to two sets armchairs set on either side of the front of the stage, where their husbands soon joined them. The groom strutted down the aisle to the Rocky Theme, amongst whispers confirming that he is a semi-professional boxer who often trains movie stars for fighting films.  Finally, the bride and her father walked down to some mushy English tune, and joined her husband to be.  They read their vows to each other (everything was in Korean else I might have something more interesting to report) and also completed a set of bows to the audience and one another.  The entire time the audience has a low buzz of conversation, as if every other person were giving their own play-by-play commentary to their neighbor.  Also, everyone left their coats on.


Bride and groom returned to the aisle to face a large projector screen. Prior to the ceremony, the screen flipped through cute photos of the couple, but now someone pulled up a YouTube video of a man, possibly the groom, in short soccer shorts playing a ukelele. Everyone cooed as he sang some Korean love song. Next, the bride and groom went to their parents and performed a more serious bow, not just at the waist, but kneeling with the forehead touching the ground. They stood up and hugged their parents, then went to the other set of parents on the opposite side.

By far the HIGHLIGHT of the ceremony was what followed. A cousin sand a song karaoke style to the bride and groom. It was a very lighthearted event and everyone was laughing and clapping in good humor throughout his performance. By 11:32, it was all over.

Friends (women on the bride's side, men on the groom's)

Family (see, more Hanboks!)

After, all us foreigners including me sheepishly headed up to the stage to pose for pictures with the newlyweds so the guys could run to a soccer match.  Korean photographers are quite intent on the perfect photo, so this was a serious process on display for everyone.  We obviously jumped the queue; the entire family was next, then just the immediate families, and last all their friends whom I thought were waiting for the next wedding as they had been standing in the back the entire time.

The 'reception' was on the third floor.  It turned out our business cards got us into a glorified cafeteria with an elaborate buffet.  There were flat screens all over live streaming the next wedding, which started as we were sitting down to eat. The food was great, and made up for the less-than-intimate setting of sitting next to a bunch of guests from someone else's wedding.  Plus, there was free beer and soju (Korean rice liquor)...and we all know it was five o'clock somewhere!

Bride and groom changed into their own matching Hanboks and sifted their way through the crowds to greet their own wedding guests, as we stuffed our faces like the Thanksgiving-deprived Americans we were.  If one of them ever reads this, thank you for letting me attend and sorry for being in that picture. I send you the best wishes in your marriage. It was was a beautiful and fascinating event. There was such a range between the details of tradition and convenience of modernity.  While parts of the event seems rushed, canned, or impersonal, the event was probably much more affordable and an easier addition to anyone's weekend. But somehow I doubt this is what my newly engaged cousin (Love you, Jeanette and Jim!) has planned. :)