You may now. . . take pictures with the bride!?

What an (un)interesting wedding that was! Nate and I just returned from Elle's wedding and reception, the whole of which lasted no longer than an hour and a half.

We rose early (Korean time) this morning to meet outside of Dootaville where Anna had arranged to pick us up. She arrived exactly at 10:00am as she had promised and we only had to wait a few minute for Julie to show up; Punctual Princess, obviously. . .

We barrled down Dongbu Expressway 61 towards Seoul for the first time ever in daylight hours. The drive was surprisingly scenic as fall in Seoul appears to be the time for wildflowers to bloom. Both sides of the canal we drove along teemed with bright reds, oranges and yellows, none of which I recall seeing during our initial commutes from Daechi. Even with such a wonderful view I managed to catch a few minutes of shut eye while Julie and Anna chatted it up Korean style in the front seat.

The wedding took place in a large hall, apparently owned by the electric company for which the groom's father works. After parking the car, which Anna managed to do surprisingly well, the four of us headed towards a large group of Korean's congregated on the patio of this enormous building. The majority of the women appeared to be dressed 'business casual' (what they would go to work in, while all, and I do mean all, of the men were in suits and ties; Korean style of course meaning suits of shiny silver and ties with glistening rhinestones! This was a bit awkward at first as Nate and I had both dressed neatly, but were certainly not in a suit nor wearing an awesome Korean power tie (as I can't seem to locate the one tie that I swore I brought in my 200 square foot apartment).

Inside we gave our DYB envelop, Elle's present, to a man standing behind a long folding table. Anna then ushered us to sign our name in a book open on the table. Everyone before us had written their name neatly, and apparently vertically, in perfect block Korean letters (possibly to ensure the receipt of a thank you?). I felt bad destroying the aesthetics of the page with 'Adam Saper' scrawled out horizontally. . .how American of me!

After signing in we went searing for Elle who Anna had wanted to meet with before the ceremony began. No time no however! We arrived only minutes before the wedding was to begin (despite Anna assuring us that we were ten minutes early). Elle went rushing by us with only time to wave hello, so we took our seats in the main theater. Of note here is that this ceremony was held in a concert hall type arena, not a Church, and was seemingly devoid of any and all religious symbols. . .unless I just totally missed them!

Nate and I made up about one percent of the wedding's total attendance and two thirds of the foreigner count! As we waited (no more than five minutes) for the ceremony to begin, Anna explained to us that it is very boring and usually she skips the ceremony to attend only the lunch following, which is apparently, 'the best part.'

Elle and her soon-to-be husband waited off to the wing while the two mothers approached the stage, in traditional Korean garb, lit two candles and embraced before taking their seats aside their husbands; with the extended family of each sitting behind their respective parents. A trio of violin, cello and piano played the entry music (a Koreanized 'here comes the bride') as Elle and her husband strolled into view.

Waiting in the Wings

Meeting of the Mothers

The two took the stage, backs facing the audience, where they stood for the next 15 minutes or so. During this time, the master of ceremonies (for lack of a better term) stood on a podium in front of the two, reading something to the audience that was all but understandable to us. We clapped when others did and manged to blend in perfectly. Again, while I do not understand Korean, the service itself seemed to be devoid of any religious practices of symbols which seemed very interesting, mostly because many Koreans are now devout Christians.

During their time on the podium, Elle and her husband was constantly illuminated by photographers flashes. A pair of photographers buzzed around the couple continually, as neither the wedding party (which consisted only of the two to be wed) nor the MC seemed to notice or care. One women, seemingly in charge of just the bride, kept close tabs on Elle making sure that her dress was splayed out just so, continually readjusting it as Elle shifted. Also moving around the stage were at least to cinematographers(?) filming the couple and the audience. On more than one occasion did Nate and I look over to find a video camera pointed directly at us, certainly one of the more interesting facets of the audience!

Photographers and Dress Lady

Karaoke is so popular even the groom can't resist an opportunity to sing!

Newlyweds!

Eventually Elle and the groom walked together back down the 'aisle' (more like, down the steps of the stage) where the paused with their respective families for more photo opportunities. From here, both families were ushered together by the photographer who lined everybody up on stage for one big photograph.

The Whole Fam. . .actually both of 'em

By this point, the wedding seemed to be over, but, we weren't quite sure how, or when! We asked Anna if that was in fact the case and she told us that we were correct. Well, where was the kiss, we inquired? Oh that comes later, said Anna, pictures first!

So, we waited patiently as group after groups took pictures with Elle and Hubby until it was finally time for friends! Anna and the other Korean teachers in attendance beckoned us to join them as they headed towards the stage. Towering over the majority of Koreans, especially Korean women, Nate and I made our way towards the back of the picture where we were eventually told to stand on the topmost step. The photographer snapped away at this large group of Koreans surrounding their recently married friends, tilted just out of balance by three enormous Caucasians (the other foreigner, a relatively plump gay man from San Fransisco) standing awkwardly in the background, smiles just beaming outwards!

Finally, after a few adjustments, the photographer called for Elle and Hubby to step forwards. As he counted down for the picture, they were told to embrace and eventually kiss, though the majority of the audience at this point had already retired to the dining hall! We too moved outwards towards lunch, following Razer who reassured us that this was the best part of the wedding.

On the way out of the main hall, Nate and I paused at a wedding photo to admire the recently wed couple: Awwwwww. Razer quickly corrected us, informing us that the pictures was just random and not of Elly and Co. . . .oops!! Our bad!! I mean, they kind of looked the same?!

Downstairs we entered an enormous congregating hall, lined with tables already filled with people and food. We wasted no time getting to the food as we followed Razer and the other Korean Teachers who literally dove for the buffet. I quickly stuffed my plate full of salad (the first I've had since being in Korea), deep fried shrimp, dirty rice, mussels on the half shell, Chinese-ish glass noodles and a chunk of beef rib meat.

We wandered for a moment, following Razer and literally had to wait for someone to get up before sitting down, as the hall was the full! Small cans, ice cold thankfully, of Pepsi and Cider (ginger ale) were placed across the table and more were brought while we ate. We quickly worked our way through our first plate and followed Razer's advice to have 'one more.' My second time around I stocked up on more of the same, adding a few pieces of sashimi, tuna and salmon, to the mix along with some sliced hot dogs in mustard!

During our second course, I commented on the small, whole, octopus sitting on Razer's plate. . .which he then quickly dipped in some red sauce and handed over to me. Well, I can't use Nate's excuse that I'm allergic and I'm not gonna offend anyone at a wedding. . .plus, when else would I pop a whole, seemingly still alive (but thankfully not) octopus in to my mouth! So did. . . .I chewed for a good half minute before deciding that I had perhaps just swallow whatever was left in my mouth, simply because I was beggining to be aware of the fact that I had eaten all, literally every single part, of this poor creature. . . .ugh!

Nate and The Octopusettes

Cutting the Cake!

Luckily, I was able to chase down the octopus with a decent helping of chocolate ice cream that Razer located for us! Elle and Hubby (now dressed in traditional garb as well) came around to say hello and thank you! Nate and I quickly jumped up to take a picture with our teacher and recent bride which you can find below!

Us and the Newlyweds

Razer suggested we come with him instead of Anna, perhaps because he does not get much male company as the only male teacher in DYB. . .or perhaps to discuss the recent dismissal of Harry, our favorite New Yorker-Korean All American Badass (which will be discussed in a subsequent post)! Either was, the drive back up to Junggye was much quicker and I was more awake having gotten something in my stomach. Oh, and to top it all off, we got to listen to an awesome demo of a Westlife (some English boy band?) cover that Razer recorded with a woman from church whom he described as either 'repelling' or 'repulsive,' I can't quite remember!

Which reminds me, we have our first band practice next week. . .though I still don't have an amp. . .hmm. So far we have me on guitar, Cleo (I believe on bass), a keyboardist, David on drums, Razer singing, and of course, Nate and Sunny rapping while dancing! Now doesn't this sound fantastic! I'll do my best to try and record the actual performance if it occurs some day!

But for now, Happy Saturday!

Happily Never After?!

Yesterday Nate and I received invitations to Elle's, the teacher who recently replaced Ji-Young, wedding ceremony this Saturday. Apparently, we were not initially invited as it was questionable whether or not we would have any interest in attending and consequently, giving an invitation might have been perceived as fishing for wedding gifts! Not the case!

When made aware of the wedding's proximity I was enthused at the possibility of attending. I've always figured that weddings, funerals, births and birthday parties in other countries are some of the most important cultural events that one can attend. Even if modern ceremonies have been 'Westernized' to a degree, each of these important rituals usually reflects a great deal about the host countries people and ideology. So far I have been lucky enough to attend one wedding in the United States, one in St. Thomas, one in Ghana, and one in Turkey! Not a bad collection as I hope to soon add South Korea to the list.

So, telling the other teachers that we would be honored to attend, word must have gotten around to Elle who presented us each with our own invitation yesterday. The outside of which reads "Wedding Day," the inside, of course, is all Korean. As the majority of teachers in our branch will be attending, we hope that we can find one who will escort us to the wedding as we have no real idea where it is or how to get there!

There is a sad side to this story however. A few weeks ago Nate was talking to Elle about the wedding and congratulated her, as one should seemingly do in this situation. Elle responded that she was not excited and in fact, did not desire to wed at such a young age (26 Korean I believe). She said that she loves her boyfriend but does not wish to marry him now for it will force her into the subservient life of a Korean housewife, cooking, cleaning and looking after him. As a young woman who has lived on her own for only a few years, this is obviously accepting a rather large burden. . .unwillingly!

Elle has told her family numerous times that she does not wish to wed yet they are forcing her, for reasons that I think we just cannot quite understand. While we Americans would think "Why doesn't she just not do it!?" that simply isn't an option in Korea. To not follow her parents' direction would be so disgraceful that it would most likely ruin not only her but her whole family's reputation. . .not worth the price of only one woman's 'freedom' apparently!

This does not seem to be that uncommon of a practice however as we were shocked to hear a similar report the other day from A-Young, Anna Teacher. Last Friday as we were leaving school, Nate and I asked Anna if she had any big plans for the weekend. We learned that it was in fact her 10th wedding anniversary and that she and her husband would be celebrating on a small island near Incheon, off the western coast of Korea.

Again, ignorant to Korean marriage culture, we were silly enough to congratulate her on the occasion. Anna informed us that she was not excited and that is was not a happy celebration. . .which was really, really awkward to hear! She informed us that she was married much to early and does not enjoy being a housewife. Whoa. . .lotta information to take in at once and subsequently try to respond to. Nate offered condolence saying that it's exciting that she and her husband have managed to stay wed for so long. . .but again, this was received rather negatively. Oops! We tried!

It really just seems like people are forced in to marriage, especially woman, whenever the family deems it necessary. Perhaps it is for social but more likely economic gain for the family. Either way, it seems like quite the raw deal for the women who are immediately subjected to a life of servitude towards their husbands which they may, or may not, love.

I guess this answers the question that we have continued to ask each other about why the teachers stay out so late when they have families at home! It's simply because they do not necessarily love, or need the presence of their husbands to be happy. It appears as if going out and drinking all night is not only a release, but an expected release from the duties of Korean Womanhood. Rough. . .but at least they don't have to go home early (meaning midnight) every night!

Anyways, I'm excited to see the wedding, assuming that we are able to find out way to and fro! I would imagine that I can take pictures and hopefully will be able to share them with everyone! That's all for now!

Pictures from Seoul Tower have been added below!