The funeral...

One of the teachers at my schools mother in law died this past weekend, so all of the teachers went to the funeral after school yesterday. I was told to wear black, so I did... and so did everyone else.

When we arrived at the funeral home, we (the teachers, principal, vice principal, secretaries, assistants, etc) all piled into a little tiny room, filled with flowers and a single picture of the woman who had died. The family members all stood in black robes with yellow arm bands, on the side of the room. My Principal and Vice Principal walked up to the front of the room, where the 8 x 11 picture of the womasn was standing, picked up a stick of inscense, lit it, and placed it in a bucket of sand. They then, with all of the teachers, bowed to the picture 3 times. And not just a little bow... They were on their knees with their heads on the ground. I began to kneel down, because I thought it would be rude if I didn't, and my friend April (also a teacher) tapped my shoulder and said, "We don't do this part." She was implying that Christians do not participate in the bowing. So, we stood in the back while everyone bowed. At the end of the 3 bows, we all walked up to the front of the room, where there was a wooden box with a small slit in the top. Just like at weddings in Korea, you have to bring money to offer to the family. So, dropped my 30,000 won into the wooden box and tried to convince myself that it would be spent on something worth while.

After we "paid," we all filed into the dining commons. The family served us soup, rice cakes, vegetables, and Sprite. We all sat and talked for about 10 minutes, and then off we went. It was a strange experience to say the least, but like all of my strange experiences in Korea, I'm glad I was given the opportunity to experience it.

The Black Ribbon...

A couple weeks ago, I wore a black ribbon in my ponytail! I was so proud of my accessory, because soooo many Koreans wear hair bows and barrets! I was just trying to be more trendy, I guess. I walked into school that morning and was abruptly stopped by one of the teachers who asked me: "Alexis, Is your family okay?" I quickly answered, "Yes, why?" She replied, "You have black ribbon in hair." As it turns out, Koreans were black ribbons in their hair when a close relative has passed away as a sign of their mourning.

After school today, I am heading over to a funeral home to pay my condolences to one of the teachers at my school whose mother in law died this weekend. I was told to wear black clothes today... so to go along with my new black dress, I attached my good old black bow... I'm hoping she notices and appreciates my sentiment.

Songdo Beach

Kevin and I had a low key day today at Songdo Beach together.  As I always do, I wished I had brought the camera because there were sooo many funny things. 

1. Korean boys wear their boxers to the beach instead of bathing suits!  There was a young kid who was swimming in the water and playing in the sand who's boxers had ripped in the front and his pee pee was hanging out for all to see!

2.  There were 4 high school age boys who had rented wet suits and snorkling gear, but they couldn't swim, so they all stayed within 5 feet of the shore.  Not too sure what they were able to see, but funny for Kev and I to watch!

3.  Kev kicked his soccer ball around with some Russian sailors, one of whom was wearing a very tight speedo style suit, and only had 1 tooth!  YIKES!

The Wedding…

One of my co-workers got married on Saturday, and I was invited to the wedding!  I had no idea what to expect, but felt right at home when I walked into the wedding hall and saw white chairs, colorful flowers, and lots of people!  It wasn’t until about 5 minutes later that I realized just how different Korean weddings are.  

All of the wedding guests were talking in the lobby when the bride walked into the wedding hall. It was the strangest thing.  Only ½ the seats were filled, but there were hundreds of people standing around the edge of the wedding hall room… talking!  Yes, they were talking, as if t hey were attending some ort of afternoon cocktail party!  I was appalled at their ude behavior, but then realized that this was the norm at Korean weddings.  Guests come to socialize with other wedding guests, not to necessarily watch the wedding ceremony!   Here are some interesting things that happened: 

* Before the wedding, you can take picture with the bride in a small room off to the side of the lobby.  So, basically everyone can see her before the wedding.

* The groom was wearing natural looking make-up, and lipgloss!

* All Korean brides rent their dresses from the wedding hall!

* When the bride walked down the isle, there was an announcer that said in Korean “Now introducing, the bride.” and there were machines that shot bubbles and dry ice on the stage!  So cheesy!

* There were NO bridesmaids or groomsmen.

* The bride and groom never held hands, linked arms, smiled or kissed during the entire ceremony!

* They didn’t exchange rings.

* They read vows to each other from something that looked like a restaurant menu.

* The wedding assistant lady was “all up in their grill” (as Kevin would say) the entire wedding!  She kept walking up to them and fixing their hair or their clothes, and would explain what they were supposed to do next… It almost felt like a rehearsal!

* There was no reception after the wedding!  Instead, the bride and groom gave everyone envelopes of money so we could go out to lunch with who ever we wanted to!  SCORE!

My one night stand...

Kev and I went out with some friends tonight and took a cab home around 2:00am.  When we arrived at our apartment in the cab, I handed Kevin 5,000 won, which was 1/2 of the taxi fare.  As a side note *** We are having a contest to see who can save the most money in Korea - so we split everything equally!  Anyway, the taxi driver laughed when I gave Kevin the money...  I'm sure he probably thought we had just met and I didn't want Kevin to have to pay for the whole fare...   When I got out of the cab in my bright pink cocktail dress, holding a single rose that Kevin bought me, we both smiled, knowing that the taxi driver thought we were just hooking up for the night!