Day 32

• Today I went to a Korean wedding hall. Watching a Korean wedding is very different from an American wedding although they are wearing western wedding clothes. At the wedding hall there are different conference rooms with other couples getting married at the same time. There are people everywhere talking to each other or on the phone, no one is listening to the actual wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony just seems like an excuse to take photos. In fact, during the ceremony a small cake was wheeled out for the couple to cut and then it was wheeled away, they didn’t actually serve any cake at the reception. Anyone can walk in, including me, but if you want to eat at the reception then you pay 30$ for a meal ticket and your name is written in the couples wedding book so they will know you attended their wedding. The wedding couple never spends any time with their guests. Only the parents go around at the dinner reception to thank guests for attending. There is no music or dancing either. While the guests eat dinner, people can watch the closed circuit TV’s showing the wedding couple downstairs having their traditional Korean wedding ceremony. Guests don’t give gifts to the wedding couple, only family members present the couple with envelopes of money which the couple then uses to pay for their honeymoon. Then end of the traditional ceremony is really interesting. The mothers throw chestnuts into a blanket that the couple holds, and how ever many land on the blanket is suppose to predict how many children they will have. After this, the husband presents the wife with all of the money envelopes; she is in charge of the finances (watch out). The next step of the ceremony is like the western kiss. Koreans are too shy to kiss in public so they share a fig; it’s sort of like the spaghetti noodle scene from “The Lady and the Tramp.” And lastly, the bride jumps on the grooms back and he gives her a ride around the room. Like I said, very different from watching an American wedding ceremony.
• Business cards are a very important part of the culture here. Bo-nyun’s mother in law gave me her business card at the wedding reception and I had to follow a very strict business card ritual. First you look the card over very carefully, examining both sides, then you put it on the table in front of you. You don’t put it in your wallet right away; if you are a man you put the business card in your breast pocket, woman need to put it on the table in front of them. Bo-nyun’s mother in law was really pleased with me because I was able to sound out her name by looking at the Korean characters. I really am acting like a 3 year old, reading any letters I can recognize.
• Another important part of the culture here is to address people according to their age. So when ever I meet someone new the first question they always ask me is how old I am. It is very weird to get use to. Usually people ask you where you are from, or what you do, not how old you are. But they need to know how you should be addressed so it is not considered rude to ask. You don’t ask old people their age because it’s obvious they are your elder and should be given a respectful title.