My First Wedding!

(Let me clarify, not MY first wedding, but the first wedding I WENT to in Korea...)

About 4 days ago, one of the Korean English teachers invited me to her wedding. I said "Of course!" and asked when it was. "This Sunday," she said. I was taken aback a little when she told me it was so soon, but that is indicative of the culture here. Everything is conducted like a business--quick and efficient--get in, get out, get on with life. 

The wedding ceremony was beautiful, but I was very surprised at the "get in, get out" manner in which it was conducted.  The ceremony was maybe 15-20 minutes long, with many people casually standing, talking and taking pictures of each other in the back of the hall. After the wedding ceremony (which included the cutting of the cake while flashing neon lights illuminated the bride and groom), the couple took pictures with family (imagine "My Big Fat Greek Wedding") followed by pictures with all of the friends (myself included--pretty sure I'll stick out like a sore thumb! lol) 

After pictures, the guests were rushed out of the wedding hall and to the reception hall for a huge buffet-style lunch. In Korean culture, the bride and groom typically have two weddings: The first is more Western-style with wedding dresses, tuxes, and all the friends and family. The second wedding is traditional Korean-style with just family. While the second wedding is going on, friends and extended family fill their bellies with delicious Korean cuisine. When the traditional wedding is finished (about 30 minutes later), the bride and groom come say hello to everyone and then take off. And boom, it's over. Everyone leaves. No toasts, no dancing, not much socializing. Get it, get out. Make room for the next group...

Very new experience.

If and when I ever get married, I will most definitely be sticking to the western-style wedding--eating, drinking, dancing, and being merry (no pun intended). Not that I didn't enjoy the wedding, it's just not how I'd do it. Gotta have dancing! :D

My first swimming experience in Korea...

Well, going for a swim in Korea was quite a new experience. First, I had to find the pool. I started wandering the streets and alleys of Suwon Station and quickly decided I'd never figure it out that way. I'd only seen the building the pool was in once, I saw it when it was dark-- I was still new to Korea--and, let's be honest, I really have no sense of direction anyway so there was no way I was going to remember where it was. So I cheated and went to the information center to ask--and was thrilled when the lady drew me a map and told me (in English) exactly how to find it! :D

So yesterday, I went for my first swim. First, I paid my 5,000 won and then proceeded to enter the ENORMOUS 2-story locker room. I found the locker they assigned me and threw my stuff in before heading to the pool (which I got lost trying to find, I might add...I got some help from some ajummas--old married Korean women--using my mad charades skills). 

Eventually, I made it to the pool--where there was a huge group of ajummas, and a few younger women, doing intense water hip-hop style dancing (??) to insanely loud Korean techno music, led by a young Korean woman who was dancing outside of the pool. Good times. I was about to get into the lap swim side when the Korean women started laughing and yelling something and pointing to their heads...I didn't have a swim cap. So I headed back through the maze of showers, soaking tubs, lockers and naked women to the front desk to get a swim cap. They didn't have any so I ended up borrowing one from a nice ajumma and finally got into the water and started swimming...

The rest of my time at the pool was pretty uneventful, although the Korean women were smiling at me, giving me thumbs up and talking to me like I understood what they were saying, I just kept nodding and smiling and saying "nay..." (korean for "yes") Oh, and at one point an ajumma passed me while I was swimming...but then she had just started and I had been swimming for an hour and was cooling down--well, that's my excuse anyway. At any rate, it was an experience and it was fun. I will definitely be going again and again as I realized just how out of shape I was...and how good it felt to be back in the water. 

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Here is a collection of quotes I've taken from students (both essays and things they've said in class)...

About family...(4th and 5th grade, age 10-11 international age/11-12 Korean age)

My father is a housewife. 

My mom is fat and really funny, and is a nagger.

My father is fat. My mother is diligent. My sisters are the worst. I love my family, but my sisters are unpleasant.

My sister who is in 8th grade is irritable...Maybe she is in puberty. 

My sister is sometimes stupid, but she is kind.

About school life...(5th grade)

But I do my school try test weekend, so my mood is not very good. (I had my school practice test this weekend, so I'm in a bad mood).

Lunch is liberty hour. I'm fighting boys. But that's funny. (Lunch is free time. I fight with boys during lunch and it is fun).

I don't like social study and Korean, or when I get scrumbled from the teacher. (I don't like Social Studies or Korean, or when I get scolded by the teacher).

I have many friends. My nickname is sexy guy in the school.

I'm many have friends. But I have not girlfriend. Because many shes is ugly. (I have many friends, but I don't have a girlfriend because many girls are ugly.)

My teacher says to me, "Your brain is very good. But your mouth is very noisy."

Other...

Pandas are fat and round. My mother looks like a panda.

We don't need cats because cats just make humans unhappy. 

Only in Korea

Ok, well only in Korea as compared to any WESTERN countries I've visited...

Only in Korea...

Can you walk up and down the same streets and pass the same buildings every day, but still be able to find something new every time you look up

Only in Korea...

Can you buy what you think is mint chocolate chip ice cream and have it turn out to be green tea ice cream with pinto beans...YUMMY (actually it's quite gross)

Only in Korea...

Will you constantly be stared at by the locals as if they are trying to discover through telepathy what has possessed you to inhabit their country

Only in Korea...

Can you walk 2 minutes off the buzzing thoroughfare and find peace and tranquility in a worn alleyway with lush mountains as its backdrop

Only in Korea...

Will drunk guys on the subway ramble on to you in Korean, somehow expecting that if they just talk louder and keep repeating the same thing, you will understand them, even though you clearly do not speak Korean

Only in Korea...

Are fried grubs and dried squid popular snacks among children

Only in Korea...

Can an old lady cut in front of you in line or kick you out of your seat on the bus by sitting on you...and completely get away with it (the latter has not happened to me, but I've seen it)

Only in Korea...

Will you see men holding hands, putting their arms around each other, etc--but only as a sign of friendship and affection, not homosexuality

Only in Korea...

Will boyfriends/girlfriends wear matching outfits on a regular basis

Only in Korea...

Do you see dogs wandering around in bars and restaurants

Only in Korea...

Do middle school girls come up to you, say "hello," and when you say hello back, start giggling and talking excitedly amongst themselves

Only in Korea...

Can you walk down a dark alleyway in the middle of the night without the slightest fear that something bad is going to happen

Only in Korea...

Are the drivers so crazy that their horns are primarily used to warn pedestrians and other drivers that they're going through a red light. (The traffic rules here are not so much "rules" as "guidelines," if they can even be called that)

Only in Korea...

Is it quite common for people to dye the ears and tails of their dogs bright colors like pink, red or orange.

Only in Korea...

Can you find open markets all over the place, with everything from fresh eel and squid to clothes and shoes to toilet paper

Only in Korea...

Did the government decide to get rid of trash cans so they could attempt to make more money by telling people they have to buy special trash bags to put their garbage in and leave on the street (which honestly is not working--we all use whatever grocery bag we have and a lot of people just throw their trash wherever now)

Only in Korea...

Can you feel the significant change in seasons in less than a 24-hour time period