Korean Wedding

One of Chloe's co-workers recently announced that she was getting married, and invited all of us to her wedding! We were very excited, and decided to all travel there together (more of a bonus of Sam and Chloe, who had no idea where we were going). We chipped in some money, because we were told that you don't bring presents to a Korea wedding, you bring money. We also learned that typically, when a couple gets married, the groom buys the house, and the bride buys everything in it.

We met Sunny, Yui, Hedgin, and Michelle at the bus station on Saturday, and took a bus all the way to Yeouido. It was a short walk to the wedding hall, which is where weddings in Korea are held. Not churches, not usually outside, but at specific halls designed for it. It's interesting, almost like going through a checkout. Brides are almost lined up to get married, *cha ching* next! J.C. was waiting in a side room having pictures, and we joined her for a couple. The groom came in to say hello; I guess there is no rule about not seeing the bride before you get married. We also learned that brides rent their wedding dresses instead of buying them. Well, the western wedding dress, but I'll get to that later.

We met with Jade, his girlfriend, and Daniel, and seated ourselves in the main room. We watched everyone walk down the aisle separately, including the groom. Again, slightly different but not by much. The wedding was all in Korea, obviously, with some prayers, some songs, but no kiss at the end! We kept waiting for it, but I guess they skip that part too. We got to join the family in more pictures; imagine everyone in the room lining up together for one huge picture. The photographer was my favourite, he kept running around screaming like a little girl to get everyone lined up properly. I think that part took ten minutes! Oh, and then the fake bouquet toss! We were lined up to get our picture taken, and one of the brides friend came to join her in front of us to set up for a shot of her catching the bouquet. She missed though, haha.

And then, dinner. I remember waiting to get our tickets for the restaurant, and already seeing a new bride walking down the aisle in the same hall. The food was in the same building, in a large room with the usual round tables, and a huge buffet along the walls. Except, the guests were from at least 3 different weddings, and the bride and groom were nowhere to be seen! So, you get married within half an hour, take some pictures, eat your food, and then get out. The whole thing was done in about 2 hours. But anyways, we managed to get a table together, and started in on the buffet. It was delicious! The usual Korean stuff, soups, ddok, sushi, chicken, meats, salads, etc etc etc. I remember a HUGE fish at the end of the line, with people picking off raw slices. I've never had sashimi like that before. Sam enjoyed the

chicken especially. There was squid hidden in a couple of the pastries, so we kept our eyes open. And some really nicely wrapped dishes, like the rice inside bamboo. When a couple of our friends were finished eating, the servers actually asked them to leave, because more people needed seats. And so, we lost half our table and were joined by some strangers from another wedding! Really strange! The best part was the old man sitting next to Sam. For drinks, we had coke and cider (sprite), but he ordered a few bottles of soju, and started drinking cup after cup of it, hahahaha.

Once we were finished eating, we met everyone in the lobby. The bride and groom met with us, and they were changed into their hanboks. Hanboks are traditional Korean clothes, and when Koreans get married they have a Western wedding with rented clothes, and then a traditional ceremony with newly tailored hanboks. Usually only the family is involved with the traditional ceremony, so we didn't get to see anything.

And then, finished! Like I said, less than 2 hours, and everyone went home. A few pictures together, a quick bus ride back to Ansan, and the end. We were really happy to have had the chance to see a Korean wedding.

Wedding hall.

Fake bouquet toss.

Buffet.

Squid!

J.C. and her new husband.

Sushi

Next to our apartment is a huge department store called Newcore. And these chains usually have one floor dedicated to restaurants. Chloe had been to one of those restaurants for lunch with her co-workers, and on the way noticed one of those awesome awesome sushi places where the food moves around on a conveyor belt. She told Sam, and we made a point to visit as soon as possible. It was also decently priced, a buffet of sushi for 14$, where normally they charge you by the separately priced plates. Sam REALLY loves this place. Beside's sushi, they also had soups and veggies and dumplings and chicken and fruits.

Mini squids on rice.

Spicy and Saucy.

Cheese slices on top.

A closeup of the conveyor belt.

Tempura (of course).

Bacon sushi.

Unagi... perhaps.

A far shot of the restaurant.

Foreign Restaurant

Chloe and Sam joined up with friends Katie and Peter to have some Indian food in Itaewon (Seoul's foreigner district). There is a fantastic buffet at the Foreign Restaurant for 15$, including french fries (!?), butter chicken, dahl, chicken tandoori, spring rolls, naan bread, lamb korma, papadum, a variety of vegetables, chutneys and pickled mangoes, you get the idea. Katie had never had Indian food before (shocking!) and was delighted! It's a really nicely decorated restaurant with great servers who clear your plates immediately and refill your water right away. Strangely, Chloe didn't get any pictures of this place (sorry!) or the food. But don't worry, we'll definitely go back. Bursting at the seams, we wandered around Itaweon a bit.

Katie wanted to show us some foreign grocery stores so we could find all those little things we might miss. Chloe bought raspberry jam, and Sam looked for orange pekoe tea, but had to settle for ceylon. We did find the junk food (doritos and red bull) but we avoided all the temptations. We also made a point to check out What the Book, what we believe is the only English bookstore in Seoul. Sam wanted to find a good tailor and get some suits made, so we wandered around the backstreets for a little while. Finding nothing, we headed over to Namdaemun.

Namdaemun was packed as usual, and full of funny Koreans. Sam made a comment about kimchi chocolate, and some salesperson jumped out of nowhere and said, "kimchi chocolate, you want some?

We have!" They are also obsessed with ginseng here, and half some VERY strange pictures advertising it (left). Chloe was here to buy a Hello Kitty hair dryer she'd seen a couple weeks earlier, and also picked up a Baby Milo hoodie. Yes, we've only been here for a couple months and she's already been affected by the cuteness culture. Peter was looking for earmuffs that weren't covered in adorable animals or flowers, and never ended up finding anything. Katie needed to buy another animal hat, because she'd given hers to her sister. We should explain. Picture a hat in the shape of an animal, with animal paws as mittens. That doesn't help, does it? Ok, just follow this link:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2179/2189834407_d79d2cf195_b.jpg

We walked from Namdaemun to Myeong Dong, and saw some interesting ice sculptures on the way. They created a kind of mini park out of ice, slides and everything. We also saw a lot of Koreans giving away free hugs in Myeong Dong, the shopping district next to Namdaemun. That place is also always busy, but really fun. Lots of things to see, lots of stores to visit (they've got Forever 21 and Zara's if you ever feel homesick) and a bajillion restaurants to eat at. We didn't stay long though.

After our day of shopping we traveled back to Gwangmyeong where Katie lives, and had dinner at Nolboo. This Nolboo chain was a different kind than the one in Ansan, and sold large bowls of soup. Not like Shabu Shabu. You can add meat, but it's spam and hotdogs. They also throw some cheese slices in there, lots of veggies which kind of makes up for the spam, noodles and spicy red broth. Chloe didn't like it, but Sam enjoyed the mini hotdogs. Later that night we met Katie's friends in a small apartment, and the group of us (about 15) traveled to Itaewon for a night out. 5$ to get in, but free drinks for the ladies! We didn't enjoy ourselves too much, so we went home early. The best party was the shwarma we got on our way to the taxi stand.

Ansan Apartment

Here are some more pictures of our awesome apartment. A funny thing about our blankets- we searched everywhere to find something warm and yet cheap, and finally found a 30$ sale. Thing is, you can't get anything besides neon colours and girly flowers. And so we embraced it and picked the brightest, floweriest one we could find.

Anyang Apartment

When Sam and Chloe moved to Korea, they each got an apartment, according to the contracts with their schools. They were hoping for one apartment and one housing allowance, but due to some miscommunication, they ended up with two apartments. The original apartment they would have gotten was in Anyang, close to Sam's job (but still a 20 minute walk), but they ended up in Ansan, 5 minutes from Chloe's school and 10 minutes from the subway. We finally went to check out the Anyang apartment, and are we ever glad we ended up in our officetel in Ansan!

Firstly, the apartment is MUCH smaller, a bachelor. The bathroom is one we've seen elsewhere in Korea, where the shower isn't exactly separate. The idea is, you close the bathroom door, you've got a drain in the middle of the floor, and the walls are your shower curtains. Everything gets soaked (an assumption, as we've never used it) and we think it's weird. Also, the tiles are a really gross beige/yellow colour.

Then the kitchen. Small, and the utensils are old and worn. Not a big deal really. The fridge was empty except for a small container of Korean hot sauce, and smelled a bit funny. Barely any counter space- not good for a couple that loves to cook!

And then the walls. They were covered in really old posters, Bryan Adams, Led Zeppelin, Salvador Dali. The tape was browned and peeling. Once we pried them off, we found slightly moldy, yellowed wallpaper. Ick. While Sam was working, Chloe visited the local E-mart and bought white vellum paper to re-wallpaper/cover the walls. We're never going to live there, but the walls are that gross. Also, we can graffiti them!

Oh! And a previous tenant left a styrofoam bust of Julius Caesar, half covered in glow in the dark stickers. We're not really sure what to do with it...

So finally, we unplugged everything and opened the windows to air the place out a bit. So far our electricity bills have been under 5$, and we only use that apartment to store our suitcases.

At least it has a Queen sized bed.

Old posters.

A view of the kitchen/dining room/foyer.

After Chloe's re-wallpapering.

New Years Day

To be honest, we didn't actually have much time to write down all our activities, so this blog is based on the pictures we have. We decided to go to Namsan Village, a traditional Korean village located in downtown Seoul. It's really beautiful in warmer weather, with sun and leaves and flowers on the trees, but it was still pretty interesting. There was a small pond that people were... sledding on? Not sure what to call it. They had little wooden sleds with metal runners, and then 2 wooden sticks with NAILS in the end. The idea is, you sit on the sled, and with the nail sticks, propel yourself across the ice. We watched the children for awhile, wondering if anyone would get a nail in the eye, especially when we saw them chasing each other wielding these little weapons and aiming for each others heads. We also saw a grown woman slip up really badly and crack her head off the ice. We ran to help but fortunately her husband found her first. We also took some funny pictures of random Konglish.

After Namsan Village, we wandered over to Myeong Dong, and had the most delicious street snacks Chloe has ever tried. Tiny little bread loaves, with a cooked egg in the middle. SO delicious! We wandered around looking for food, and wandered, and wandered, and for some reason decided to head home and eat at Nolboo. It's a popular chain, and depending on the location, you can get soup, or BBQ, etc etc. We ordered beef, and while it was a bit more expensive, it was definitely worth it.

Oh, and NYE was spent having dinner with Chloe's co-workers, and joining Michelle at Ansan park to watch them light fireworks, set prayers on fire (?) and gong the bell.

Namsan Tower in the background.

Christmas trees!

Decorations in the snow.

Dangerous stick sledding.

Most delicious treat ever.

Myeong Dong is always busy!

NYE 2009.