Jack's Wedding

February 25th I went to my first Korean wedding...well, half Korean. My co-worker Jack married Jung Mi in Yongju, near Andong. My friends and I ended up missing our bus because we were standing at the wrong gate, but caught the next one and arrived 5 minutes before the wedding started. Now, if you've never been to a wedding hall, like me, you probably would be expecting a wedding like you'd see in North America. Some things were the same, but imagine it being 10 times tackier. The ceremony was really nice and sentimental, but the hall itself was interesting. The wedding attendants were dressed in high school band uniforms and carried swords and trumpets. They held the swords up like an arch for the bride and groom to walk through. Then there was the bubble machine. I suppose bubbles add a touch of whimsy, but seemed out of place at an indoor wedding.

The wedding itself was nice, I especially appreciated that the pastor (or something) translated in broken English. I guess he wanted Jack to know what he was agreeing to. After the ceremony they bowed to their parents and some of Jung Mi's friends sang songs to them. Then Jack had to do push-ups with Jung Mi on his back to prove he was strong. It was pretty funny and apparently hard to do in a tux.

There's no reception at Korean weddings, so we ate the buffet then caught the next bus back to Seoul. At least we attended the ceremony. Apparently a lot of Koreans just go for the food and drop an envelope of money in the basket, they don't even watch the wedding.

The push-ups.

The mothers with the band members.