My Little Skinny Korean Wedding

Hey guys! Things are just trucking along over here. It was our first week back at school, so things were a little crazy. (And by "things" I mean "the students.") I've just been recuperating this weekend -- spending some quality time with my Kindle. Last weekend, though, I got to attend a Korean wedding, which was very exciting!

Unnecessary backstory: In 2009, I came to Korea for the first time with a group of students from my university to teach at a summer English camp. The timing was perfect: just as we arrived, Swine Flu hit pandemic status and we were quarantined on an island with teachers from Portland State University as well as a few Korean government workers who were essentially in charge of us. We were quarantined to one building for two weeks. Shit got real.

Long story short, we all bonded, and I am lucky enough to call a few people from Swine '09 some of my closest friends. This group includes three Korean gentlemen who I continue to hang out with whenever possible. One of those Koreans is Mr. Kim, who (finally) got married last weekend!

I say "finally" because although he's a very spry, immature 39 year old, to Koreans, he was practically a leper for not getting married sooner. Koreans are ALL ABOUT getting married. In fact, most of my conversations with new Koreans go a little like this:

"Hi, my name is Laura."
"Hello my name is (spoken really fast)."
"......."
"(Name spoken nice and slow like some people speak to deaf people). Where are you from?"
"I'm from the U.S."
"......"
"America. I'm from America."
"Ah, America. (Here, young people usually mention where they have been in the U.S.: California, New York, etc.; older people ask where I'm from in America, but usually don't know what Michigan nor Missouri are; and the oldest people just say "Obama" and give me a thumbs up.)"
"Appropriate response based on age."
"So, do you have a boyfriend?"

It typically takes all of one minute for the question to be posed. And if you do have a boyfriend, the next question is "Korean boyfriend?" When I've seen this interaction with my friends who DO have Korean boyfriends, it is indeed a sight to behold. Koreans love that shit.

But I digress, the point is that Koreans are obsessed with being in a relationship and getting married -- preferably before age 30. So Mr. Kim's wedding day was very exciting for all involved. Mostly, though, it was exciting for me -- my first Korean wedding! Here's some things that I found interesting...

PHOTOS: One thing Koreans do differently is take wedding photos weeks before the wedding and use the pictures for invitations etc. The bride will actually wear her dress and they shell out a pretty penny for photo books and collages to set out at the wedding hall. After the ceremony, the whole family (grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins) all takes one picture together. Then, the friends of the bride and groom all take one big picture together. 

GIFTS: Koreans don't register for gifts, or really want anything besides cold, hard cash. At the reception, there are envelopes ready and waiting for however much you can give (my friend recommended about 30-50 bucks). You write your name on the envelope, then turn this in for a dinner ticket. 

DINNER: After the ceremony, guests from all the weddings taking place at the hall that day (I'm guessing around 10), could go upstairs to the buffet and eat to their hearts' content. The food was really good -- lots of seafood, meat, and kimbap (Korean sushi). There was no ceremony to the dining; people from all the weddings ate together, but not together, and then left when they were finished. Luckily, my friend and I got to talk with Mr. Kim for awhile at this point. 

CEREMONY: Now, this is totally a personal choice of the bride, but she had both a Western-style ceremony, then a mini traditional Korean ceremony as well. I should clarify that the Western-style ceremony was a Korean version of a Western ceremony. There were spotlights, confetti blasts, and even an announcer who kept everyone clapping and laughing. Also, before we could even clear out of the hall, guests from the next wedding were at the ready. Apparently, you only get the room for one hour, then time's up! 

Overall, the whole experience was MUCH LESS formal than any wedding I've been to before. People were talking throughout the ceremony -- talking, not whispering -- and a few people wore jeans and tennis shoes. And did I mention the announcer? More than once, he pulled an I-can't-hear-you and made the guests cheer louder. Also, the bride walked down the aisle to Enya. 

After the Westernized wedding, there was a small traditional ceremony that only a handful of people witnessed. The bride, groom, and both their mothers wore hanboks (traditional Korean clothing) and performed rituals thanking their parents, uniting them as one, and hoping for many children -- but especially boys.

It was really neat to experience, but it was tucked away in the back corner where only a few people could see at a time, so my pictures didn't turn out well :(

Anyway, congratulations to Mr. Kim and his wife! More importantly, congratulations to me on my first Korean wedding! Yay Korea!