South Korea: A Wedding, Among Other Things

And... we're back!  At least in the physical sense.  Mentally, we still seem to be operating on Asia time.  Which explains why the day after returning we were able to unpack, go grocery shopping, make breakfast, complete 3 loads of laundry, and catch up on 2 hours of television all before 7:30AM.  I can only imagine what the cashier at Safeway thought when we showed up with a cart full of groceries just shortly after 4AM.

Unfortunately, we had to miss out on the midnight showing of The Avengers Thursday night/Friday morning as it narrowly conflicted with my 7pm bedtime.  BUT... it's okay because guess who caught the 9AM screening the next day!

Today our friend Justin arrives from Northern Ireland, and we will spend the week exploring exotic neighboring locales like Gettysburg and Philadelphia.  And just a few short days after his visit, we will be making our official departure from our beloved DC.

That said, I am now faced with the predicament of having too many pictures and memories to post from our Korea/China trip with too little time to share them (thanks to the "Great Firewall of China" which would not allow me to access my blog on my trip).  So here is my attempt to compress three weeks of traveling into just a few highlights.

Starting with South Korea... which can pretty much be summed up in two words:  FAMILY and FOOD. And a few other activities here and there.

Mikala flew in for the week from L.A., which was nice considering I hadn't seen this girl in the flesh for exactly one year.  It felt just like old times.

We also got to spend plenty of time with Appa and Omma, including a brief trip to Suwon on our first day, where we ate the most amazing Korean BBQ imaginable.

Patrick and Appa

Omma, Mikala, Me

When he wasn't busy preparing for his wedding, Jihoon was there to lead us around.  And lucky for us, it was voting day in Korea, which means we got to spend a full day in Seoul with Jihye and her husband Kihyung (and their baby-to-be).  If you squint hard enough, you might be able to tell Jihye is 7 months pregnant in some of these pictures.

Patrick, Mikala, Jihye

Kihyung, Jihoon, Me

Most of the week was spent doing leisurely activities, like hiking...

...hanging out in parks...

...and numerous coffee shops, including this famous coffee shop which appeared in a popular Korean drama called "Coffee Prince" about a girl who pretends to be a boy to get a job at a coffee shop and ends up falling love with her boss (Korean dramas tend to get pretty creative)...

And, of course, there was plenty of shopping.  This is In-sa-dong, a particularly touristy shopping area in Seoul.

Omma also took us Han-bok shopping.  I got one to wear at Jihoon's wedding (it's tradition for the groom's married sisters to wear a Hanbok) and Patrick got one for a keep-sake.

As you can guess, the most memorable highlight of our trip to South Korea was Jihoon and Bora's wedding where we got to celebrate Korean-style and see a ton of family members.

Jihye, Harmoni (Omma's mother), Me, Mikala

Mikala, Me, Harmoni (Appa's Mother), Jihye

Appa, Patrick, our friend Sunyeol, Omma, Jihoon

Extended family on Omma's side

(Patrick blends in well, doesn't he?)

Bora's father walking her down the aisle

Bora and Jihoon, just married

The first half of the wedding was "western-style" while the second half was much more traditional.  In Korean culture, following the wedding there is a ceremony in which the bride is officially introduced to the groom's family.  

They wear special hanboks and food is laid out on a table, provided by the bride's family, which is then offered to the groom's family.

In one ritual, Omma and Appa had to throw chestnuts and Jujubes into a cloth to see how many grandchildren they would have.  I don't remember the total, but I don't think Omma had a very good aim.

They then took turns bowing to the groom's family, including the grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Towards the end, we were the ones who had to do the bowing since Jihoon is older than us.  Check out my child's pose.

It was an amazing experience to get to be a part of a Korean wedding, and we're so happy for Jihoon and Bora!

And now my favorite part of the trip... the FOOD.  As usual, I will let it speak for itself.

So glad we'll be returning in July :)

If you thought this post was long, wait until I attempt to cover China in the next one! 

oo,