Two Weddings and an Arrival; Bike Shop Magic; Visa Processing

This past Saturday, Coach invited me to go to a wedding with his family after practice - so we had a short swim workout (wetsuit workout in the pool :) ) and then quickly headed over to the Western Chosun, a ridiculously nice hotel on the beach.

Apparently, we got there too late to see the actual ceremony, which he was really bummed about, because he knew that I hadn't yet seen a Korean wedding ceremony and wanted to share the culture with me. (!) So, we proceeded to head upstairs for dinner. Let me just say, I cannot believe he invited me to this, because it seemed like a very nice wedding ceremony. The food was amazing, the place was decorated beautifully - it was just amazing all around.

The downstairs was primarily white, with white table cloths and a white roll-out carpet, and the upstairs had black table cloths (with men and women wearing mostly black or dark colors so it looked really interesting). Also, upstairs, there was a big screen on which you could watch the going-ons of the downstairs (where the bride and groom were primarily situated). After a while, the bride, groom, and their parents all came upstairs to make a round around the room, to each table. There was a male facilitator who came around with them and would facilitate clapping at each table. When the party came to each table, everyone would stand up and bow. It was really nice. The bride and groom had more modern clothes - they looked very similar to what people would wear in the States - and the parents wore Korean dress.

One very interesting difference was the nature of the pictures. In Korea, the couple has pictures taken before the wedding (some in their wedding clothes, and sometimes even different wedding clothes, so the bride may end up wearing two different wedding dresses, but they all rent dresses here instead of buying them so it is a more feasible concept) so that people can see pictures at the actual wedding. I think that is actually a great idea :).

Oh, also - ha - I asked Coach about how and when Koreans are officially married, and he told me that they don't actually officially become married until after the honeymoon, because some couples decide after the honeymoon that they don't want to stay together...!!! Hahahaha. I thought that was great. Although he said it doesn't happen often, but still. Good times.

One other cultural difference concerning marriages here is that they always serve noodles at a wedding, as a tradition. Coach also told me that in Korean, when you say "When are you going to have noodles?" means "When are you going to get married?" I thought that was really cool :)

After the wedding, we headed over to the new department store that opened up a few weeks ago. It is the biggest department store in Asia apparently, and, once we got inside, I forgot for a moment that I was in Korea. It looks SO MUCH like an American mall that it was scary. Although, this mall had an ice rink in it...which is way cool and something I can't say for any Western mall that I know of. But an awesome place - although we spent most of our time in the bookstore...haha. Good times.

On Sunday, we had practice like normal - I thought I was going to be doing a 40km run, so I was kind of nervous..ha - but I ended up not doing so. We biked and then ran after with the team, and then we watched part of the 5k/10k race that was going on right next to where our practice was. That was fun - there were more than 22,000 people in that race. Can you believe that?! Crazy. And there was a half marathon on a different course at the same time. Crazy!

After practice, Coach and his family went with me to take my bike to the bike shop to get an overhaul, which I was SO grateful for - it saved me a LOT of time and ensured that everything would be done the way I needed it to be. So we dropped the bike off, Coach gave the shop his phone number so they could call him to tell him when the bike was ready (!! :) ), and then we went to a temple nearby. This temple, Cheungreolsa, is right near my house, but I have never been there before. Actually, it doesn't look that impressive from the outside, but once you get inside, it is beautiful. I'm so glad we went. And there is a museum inside with amazing pictures of battles from the war with Japan in the 1500s...amazing.

We hung around the temple for a while because there was going to be a traditional Korean wedding ceremony soon, so we wanted to watch that. It was really interesting - the woman gets carried to the place where they are married in a box by four men. Once she arrives at the altar-like area, she gets out and joins the man on the altar. There is a table between them, behind which a person wearing noteable clothing is standing and seeming to officiate. The man and woman are kneeling on the ground, and I think they drink some Korean wine while down there. Also, apparently this is supposed to be the first and last time that the couple bows to each other. I thought that was really cool - showing respect for one another at the wedding. Coach also told me during the wedding about the divorce rate in Korea (30%!!!), but said that if a couple has a traditional ceremony, they never get divorced (I'm sure it has happened once or twice, but as a general statement - I thought that was very interesting). He also told me that if it rains or snows, that is good luck for the couple. I like that - rather than complaining about 'bad' weather, turning something that could be bothersome into a good sign.

Also while at the temple, S called Coach and told him that he was back from the Philippines and in Busan, so Coach asked him to meet us for dinner. So after watching the second wedding ceremony, Coach took me to my house, I changed quickly, and then we went to Coach's house until we were to meet S. While at Coach's house, I read one of his son's books about Albert Einstein (haha :) ) and I watched the movie 'Venus.' Coach told me that after watching this movie, he was inspired to start doing triathlons. I thought that was really cool that he shared that with me!!! I feel like my relationship with Coach and his family is getting stronger, and that makes me really happy. I'll be glad once we get to China where I will be able to treat him to a nice vacation (albeit he will be helping be a bit) and show him my appreciation for everything he and his family does for me, and just my appreciation for what amazing people they are!

Seeing S again was great - his English has definitely improved, and it will be nice to have another person to train with again - someone to kick my butt into shape! He got us all some nice gifts from the P's, which I thought was really nice as well :)

On Monday, as I was heading to try and find the travel agent to apply for my China visa, Coach called me and told me my bike was ready...!!!! I could NOT believe it!!! In the States, what I asked to be done would take about a week. This shop is so fast, and does a really great job. It's amazing. So, I went to pick up my bike, and also managed through my limited Korean and my phone dictionary to communicate what I needed. Actually I thought it would have been easier, but it seemed that the woman was trying to tell me things that weren't incredibly important (especially since I read them on the application form) so I ended up having to struggle a bit with that - but it all worked out well. I'll be picking that up on the 7th - so now everything is set pretty much! I'm definitely starting to get nervous...

Only two weeks left until I leave for China!!! I can't believe it. Luckily school is keeping me really busy so I'm not getting too nervous!