Day 492: Beginnings & Endings

I went to my first Korean wedding today! David and Lena were getting married today and they had invited the entire POLY staff. (David was our R&D guy until December, and Lena still works there in the library.) Their wedding was in the famous Yeouido Full Gospel Church on Yeouido Island in Seoul, and Addie, Katie, Kara, and I went down there together. Sally & Jay were there too so it was great to see them.

It was quite the cultural experience, even though we were later told that by Korean standards, the wedding was very 'Western.' I noticed quite a few differences and really enjoyed the experience. There was no dress rehearsal, so throughout the ceremony there was a lot of uncertainty as to what was supposed to happen next. When they walked down the aisle (at the beginning) everyone *clapped and cheered!* People talked and chatted throughout the entire ceremony, some of them even on cell phones. The entire wedding was over in about a half hour, apparently quite long by Korean standards. I was told that it's not uncommon for weddings to be about 15 minutes long, with weddings in church halls booked every half hour. Before David and Lena's wedding was even over the church crew was already setting up flowers for the next wedding. And then during the very, very brief reception afterwards, people sat at tables and ate from a buffet of Korean food. A few speeches were given, but *nobody* paid any attention at all, instead continuing to eat and chat with friends. All the speeches and words of wisdom and thanks fell on deaf ears. Wow...much more informal than our weddings, that's for sure!

I hung out at Starbucks in Sinchon with Addie and Michael after the wedding, and then later met up with Pauline and Tim. We took the subway to Dondaemun and met up with Katie to have dinner at that amazing Indian restaurant. Dinner took forever and a day to come, but damn was it ever delicious!! Tonight was Angele's going away party and so we went to that after dinner. Angele teaches at a university here and so she has a few months off for summer. She's going back to Canada for two months and this will be the last time I get to see her since I'll be gone by the time she gets back.

It ended up being a really fun night! We hung out a lounge (all of us, plus Nick, Meghann, Kim, Darryl, Logan, and Kailyn) in Hyewa (a funky part of Seoul) just having drinks and playing pool. After we got bored of the lounge we decided that some partying was in order, so we all got in cabs and headed to Hongdae. It was quite a crazy cab ride!! I was in a cab with Angele, Meghann, and Kim, and while Angele flirted with the young cabbie we drove through Gwanghwamun where there were hundreds and hundreds of people out on the streets at 1am! What's going on? Then we noticed that all of the super giant TV billboard screens downtown were all on the same channel - a soccer game! Massive crowds had gathered to watch the game and it was so exciting just to drive through all those masses of people hanging out at such a late hour! And then next to us all the way to Hongdae was this car full of these hilariously crazy and friendly Korean 20-somethings. They were all pumped up and high from the soccer game, and so we'd scream "Woohoo! Go Korea!" while racing through the streets, and then yell and wave at each other at every light. The driver was this especially funny Korean chick who'd lick her finger and then rub her chest at us every time we stopped! OMG it was hilarious!!! Easily one of the funnest and most memorable cab rides in my life!

Once in Hongdae we went to Tinpan but it really sucked there. Boring and quiet and not fun at all. We moved the show to Route 66 and once we each had a Long Island Iced Tea in our system the party kicked up another few notches. We were all drunk and feeling very jovial that night - most of it's a wonderful blur... And outside the bar I ran into James and Kevin, two guys that I met in Boracay at Christmas! Holy fricken' small world, Batman! Eventually it was time for bed, so I went back to crash at Pauline and Tim's. Saying goodbye to Angele was really sad. I love her to pieces, but know that we'll be friends forever cause we've got such a special, tight bond. And hey I'll get to see her for a few days in December when I'm back in Korea briefly.

What a long, full day!