Korean Wedding!

I felt very honored to have been invited to a Korean wedding from one of my adorable co-workers, Inhe.   Before the wedding, some Koreans had warned me that I would be disappointed because Korean weddings are not as fun as American weddings.  But I went to the wedding with an open mind.  It is not better or worse, it is simply different here. The main differences seemed to be its briefness, and the lack of dancing.  However, they chose to wear Western clothes instead of the traditional Korean Hanbok.

At first we went into a room with the bride and took lots of photos.  You could sit next to the bride and a photographer would take your picture.  Next, there was a small auditorium with chairs.  Many people were standing in the back because there were so many people that came to watch.  The ceremony was very brief.  There was no kiss, but instead a respectful bow. 

The groom had a nice sense of humor and actually serenaded the bride with a romantic song during the ceremony.

It seemed very informal since people would come and go during the ceremony and many people were talking during the whole thing.  I think in America we view the ceremony more seriously, so no one talks.  But there, everyone was chit chatting and taking pictures.  After they were done with the ceremony, there were more pictures.   It was really cute to see a bunch of her middle school students come to the ceremony all wearing their school uniforms.

After the ceremony everyone walked upstairs and got to enjoy a delicious buffet of food.  The food was absolutely incredible.  I went back and filled my plate 3 times.  No shame!

When everyone was finishing eating, the bride and groom said hello to us at our table...this time wearing the traditional Korean clothing--the hanbok.  So so cute! 

All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience at the wedding.  The only thing that I felt it was lacking was an embarrassing speech and some Gangnam Style dancing!

Best of times in Busan --Holi Hai Festival

On the weekend of Easter Sunday, I took the KTX train to Busan on the southeastern coast of Korea.  Busan is the 2nd largest city in Korea, and has a very different atmosphere than conservative Daejeon.  Busan seemed so much more laid back.  Just by observing the way people dressed and riding the subway I picked this up.  On Saturday, I went to Haeundae Beach to celebrate my Kiwi friend, Jess's birthday.  We sat in the sand by the ocean and had champagne and cake.

I cannot describe how pleasant it felt to feel the ocean breeze and sit in the sand after a long winter.  After we finished our cake we explored the Busan Aquarium.  I admired all the stunning jellyfish and sharks in the tanks.

The real reason we all made the trip to Busan, however, was the fact that on Sunday it was Holi Hai--an Indian Festival where people throw colored powder and paint at each other to celebrate the arrival of spring.  It was a perfect day on the beach.  Many people typically dressed all in white to exaggerate the effect of the paint.  The event was mainly foreigners and a few Koreans.  The Indians in Busan ran the event, passing out free Samosas and beer, and playing Indian dance music.  After everyone received their painting supplies, the Indians announced it was time to begin.  Before I knew it, I was covered in pink and orange, green, and blue paint all over. Colorful powder was on my white clothes, in my hair, and on my face.   It was the most fun festival I have ever been to.  Dancing on the beach and everyone was covered in colors! I was so happy!  Such an odd sensation! 

The colored powder was fine...it was the liquid paint that would dry hard and crusty on your skin.  After a while I went down to the shore and tried to scrub off the paint, but it was in my eyelashes, and I couldn't manage to get it all out.  I rode the train home with a red scrubbed down face, and green clumpy eyelashes.  I never enjoyed a shower so much until I got home to my apartment in Daejeon. 

This WOULD happen to me...

I feel like I can't escape awkward situations.  They follow me around the globe...

Living alone in Korea has given me the opportunity to reflect on my life.  I also have the freedom to try a lot of new things while I am here.  For one thing, I have become aware of how inflexible I am.  Anytime we go to a traditional Korean BBQ restaurant, we have to sit on the floor.  And everytime I try to sit cross-legged, it ends up really hurting me, and so I have to awkwardly shift my legs around so I am sitting on one side.  It shocked me how stiff I have become...I mean, I'm only 22!  Come on, Erica! This shouldn't be so hard!

So, I decided to try Hot Yoga five days a week at a Yoga Academy near my apartment.  I was so used to being in good shape from running on the track team in college...I thought running was the only thing for me.  But it turns out, yoga is great exercise, too! I have been going in the evenings after school.  It has really helps me relax and get some exercise.  Usually the room is set at 35 degrees Celsius (which is 95 degrees Fahrenheit). The high heat immediately makes it easier to stretch out my muscles and I start sweating like a butcher. It is great! The instructor usually speaks Korean the whole time, and I just copy what they do.  It seems that just about every pose we do, the instructor comes over and corrects my form.  I think she is shocked at how inflexible I am. The instructor will start pushing on my back to try to make me more flexible, or they will yank my leg up higher.  One time, an instructor laughed at my pathetic attempt to do the splits...  Apparently, Koreans have a stereotype of Westerners...they think we are all very stiff.  It looks like I am only reinforcing their views.

So I have been attending yoga for over a week now.  It is a very nice facility.  I take my shoes off at the door, and lock my stuff in the locker room.  A few times, however, the locker room was full and so I found another room where I could lock up my belongings.

I continued to go back to yoga, and I met a nice girl who asked me where I was from, and asked me if I wanted to meet up and she could teach me Korean and I could teach her English.  We kind of hit it off and I suggested we exchange phone numbers.  So I walked into the locker room to grab my phone.  When I came out, my new Korean friend gasped and said, "Oh my God! Why are you using the Men's Locker Room!?!!?!"  I was shocked...that was the Men's?!  I had been using it for days.  It turns out there is a large beautiful sign with golden Korean Calligraphy posted right above the door.  I had been lucky that I managed to miss seeing any men changing in there...  That would have been even more awkward!  But holy honkies! I need to learn Korean now!!!!

I told my boyfriend, Dennis, what happened.  He just laughed as said, "this kind of stuff only happens to you."  haha!