A Wedding...

After Saturday night's dance party I was pretty spent and generally not thrilled about it, but yesterday I somehow peeled my hungover butt out of bed and went to the wedding of my Vice Principal's daughter. It was located only about five minutes' windy walk from my apartment, which was nice.

When I arrived at the wedding mega-plex, I didn't really know where to go or what to do. There were seven floors of weddings in the building, and I had no way of knowing which one my VP's daughter would be on (I don't even know HIS name... much less hers...). Luckily, two teachers from my school showed up around the same time, and said something to the tune of, "Oh, Mandi! ....You were invited?"

We walked up four flights of stairs (me, sweating gin and cursing under my breath) and finally arrived to a room full of bored looking people standing around. We said hello to the VP, and paid our greetings to his daughter, who was absolutely a beautiful princess in a gigantic fluffy white dress, stuffed in a tiny closet-like thing while she waited to get married. She was crying.... not tears of joy. [This is the only time the bride's guests greet her- she will not see them during or after the ceremony. Same with the groom, who is standing at the entrance to the 'chapel.' After the ceremony is over, they go into a smaller, more private chapter and do the traditional Korean hanbok ceremony, with only family present. She will only wear the wedding dress for about two hours, the hanbok for even less- maybe one hour. Both outfits easily cost over $1,000. Then they leave. There is no greeting the newly married couple at the doors or throwing rice at the couple while they run to the car, no reception, nada.]

After standing around for about 20 minutes, the bride went into the "wedding room," which is basically a horribly tacky neon-lit/fake flower covered chapel-ala-Vegas room. Not kidding, they had a bubble machine, it was awesome. We watched as (presumably) a friend of the bride and groom serenaded them from apx. 3 feet away (it was kind of uncomfortable to watch), other people inside the "chapel" milled around, talked on cellphones, and generally didn't pay attention. (I've only been to one other Korean wedding, but it was the same business, and I felt the same.... completely awkward and out of place.) Maybe five minutes later, the other teachers grabbed my arm and said, "Mandi, it's time for lunch."

What!! Wtf? Lunch?! The ceremony wasn't even over yet! But off we went, through a door on the other side of the room, to stuff ourselves full of free buffet. All in all, from arrival time to the time I left, I spent 58 minutes at the wedding. This blows my mind. In America, you're lucky to spend 58 minutes waiting for the photographer. In Korea, weddings aren't really a big deal. It's pretty much a photo-op for the family. Giving the couple gifts is considered extremely tacky; instead, ALWAYS give money. Not even a card is necessary, simply a white envelope with your name and the amount on it. (The wedding hall even provides envelopes.)

All in all, I think weddings in Korea kind of suck. Though, yes, it is nice that they're so short and always include a huge buffet lunch, they're uncomfortably causal and frankly, boring. I love going to weddings in the states, but the reception is really the best part, isn't it?

Endings and Beginnings

Today is classless Monday, where, as you may have guessed, I have nothing to do but update my blog.

This weekend was another great one, a weekend of endings and beginnings. Friday I said my final goodbye to Aine and Gareth over dinner with 12 other great people. It was sad and happy, but mostly happy. I also met their good natured replacements, Duncan and Lana, who hail from England. Pork was eaten, laughs were had, poetry was read, all in all, it was a beautiful fond farewell.

Saturday, CR hosted a movie/lunch day at his swank college pad. He made jambalaya, I made cornbread, and after we stuffed our faces and watched Elf, six of us climbed in his gigantic bed and snuggled together for a few hours. It was lovely, and the endorphins were free flowing. The high of proximity and human touch lasted all day and night.

Yesterday I was lucky to be able to crash a Korean wedding!! It was so exciting. Though I personally had never met the groom or the bride (a co-worker of Annie, Eoin, Duncan and Lana), I snagged a "plus one" spot with Eoin and scampered along. It was supposed to begin at eleven: we arrived at a very strange hall in an otherwise unmarked building, at ten after, and the wedding was already almost over. I'd say the entire affair lasted no more than twenty minutes. It was insane, best described as a jumbled up Vegas wedding in fast forward. The weirdest part was, during the ceremony, no one was really paying attention- everyone was talking, talking on their cell phones, walking around, etc. Some guests were dresses quite fashionably and expensively, some were wearing hanbok, and others jeans and sweaters. There was no rhyme or reason. A friend of the couple was singing a song while a bunch of women in the room brought the bride roses. The bride and groom were dressed in your typical wedding dress and tux at the altar, already cutting the cake together, and the next thing I knew, they were rushing down the "aisle" (catwalk) through exploding confetti and streamers for pictures, and back up again, and back down again. During the ceremony, there was another bride already waiting at the back of the room in her wedding dress for her twenty minutes.

the wedding party

the hanbok ceremony

The photographs easily took four times as long as the ceremony. Though, like I stated previously, I had never met either of these people, they made me get in group photographs with them, haha. They photographed a staged a bouquet toss (twice!). Minutes after it was over, we followed the bride downstairs to a different floor to view her and her husband in their traditional Korean hanbok, which was beautiful and deeply ornate. After that, it was off to the "reception," which was a huge delicious buffet, in the next room, haha, that undoubtedly cost a fortune. The bride and groom showed up shortly thereafter in matching jeans, sneakers and hoodies, capping the insane outfit count for the hour at three. they came around to each table and thanked the guests for coming, and then it was over.

Another good one :)