It's Monday morning and I want to take a nap. I'm really tired, but it's a good kind of tired.
Saturday, I left home early to get to Yangpyeong English Village. This weekend was the annual Teachers' Retreat through the SDA Language Institute. Since Yangpyeong is about 30 minutes away, I haven't seen these people in a long time, and I'd like to know who was still around; of course, I decided to attend.
It was great worshiping with other Adventists AND understanding everything that was going on. We even had a nice "Jeju Reunion", the 2 foreign teachers and I even saw the director again! I was surprised 'cause he was supposed to be in the States by that time. He's still going to the States, but in a few weeks. It was great. I even met a few other people, one being a girl who went to my university (Southern Adventist University) and is now teaching in Gwangju. I've never visited Gwangju before and this girl is going to leave by the end of this term (end of April). We exchanged contact info and I'll ask when may be the best time to come down.
Afterwards, I left to meet my friend and her husband in Seoul. Over an hour, several text messages, a few directions, and a friend's help later; I reached the restaurant where they were with other friends and joined them (didn't eat, already ate at the English Village before I left). So I went home with them and stayed the night.
Sunday was a crazy and disappointing, to a certain extent. What wasn't disappointing was meeting a mutual friend of ours, and spending most of the day together. What was disappointing was the wedding we went to and the meal we had together after.
Yes, my two friends were bridesmaids in a Korean wedding. That is not normal in Korea, because they don't use bridesmaids or groomsmen. Just the couple, and the couple's parents. But since the bride was a friend of theirs and she requested them to be there, it was done. So many things went wrong. We didn't know where the wedding was supposed to be. No one helped us get there. We took a taxi and the driver didn't know where the place was either. He had to ask, but fortunately he didn't charge us for the time we were waiting for him to figure out where it was (an honest taxi driver, yes they do exist).
To not give too many details, the bride basically used my friends for show in her wedding. Just like some may use peacocks or doves, this bride used my friends. In short, she (or anyone for that matter) shows that she has foreign friends, it's like she climbs a few rungs up the social ladder. She used my friends to show them off so she can be looked upon as way up there. This is very typical in Korea: things done just for show. Appearances are EVERYTHING here. Some may have to come to Korea to really understand the previous sentence. Others may not have to, because they understand this all too well.
Of course I didn't know the bride, but since my friends were going and I was there to spend time with them, by default, I had to go with them. For the actual ceremony, I stayed with my friend's husband, away from the ceremony. We were guarding both our and my friends' stuff. Needless to say, we were more than happy to leave. Normally there's an all-you-can-eat buffet at weddings (this one being no exception), but there was no way we were going to stay there. Hence we left to eat some place else, only to discover the food wasn't worth the price we paid.
It's an Italian Restaurant by Yangjae Station (양재역, Line 3, Orange Line) called "6" Plate". This was the worst Italian food we've ever had in our lives. If you're in the area, beware. Who adds fish to olive oil? Who uses ketchup kimchi as tomato sauce? We weren't happy.
So yes, our Sunday was disappointing, but the fact that we were together spared us all.
I took the express bus back. Now I know: Seoul - Wonju = 1 hr. 20/30 minutes. From Wonju - Hoengseong = about 25 min. and from the Hoengseong bus terminal home is about a 10 minute walk. Good to know.
It was great worshiping with other Adventists AND understanding everything that was going on. We even had a nice "Jeju Reunion", the 2 foreign teachers and I even saw the director again! I was surprised 'cause he was supposed to be in the States by that time. He's still going to the States, but in a few weeks. It was great. I even met a few other people, one being a girl who went to my university (Southern Adventist University) and is now teaching in Gwangju. I've never visited Gwangju before and this girl is going to leave by the end of this term (end of April). We exchanged contact info and I'll ask when may be the best time to come down.
Afterwards, I left to meet my friend and her husband in Seoul. Over an hour, several text messages, a few directions, and a friend's help later; I reached the restaurant where they were with other friends and joined them (didn't eat, already ate at the English Village before I left). So I went home with them and stayed the night.
Sunday was a crazy and disappointing, to a certain extent. What wasn't disappointing was meeting a mutual friend of ours, and spending most of the day together. What was disappointing was the wedding we went to and the meal we had together after.
Yes, my two friends were bridesmaids in a Korean wedding. That is not normal in Korea, because they don't use bridesmaids or groomsmen. Just the couple, and the couple's parents. But since the bride was a friend of theirs and she requested them to be there, it was done. So many things went wrong. We didn't know where the wedding was supposed to be. No one helped us get there. We took a taxi and the driver didn't know where the place was either. He had to ask, but fortunately he didn't charge us for the time we were waiting for him to figure out where it was (an honest taxi driver, yes they do exist).
To not give too many details, the bride basically used my friends for show in her wedding. Just like some may use peacocks or doves, this bride used my friends. In short, she (or anyone for that matter) shows that she has foreign friends, it's like she climbs a few rungs up the social ladder. She used my friends to show them off so she can be looked upon as way up there. This is very typical in Korea: things done just for show. Appearances are EVERYTHING here. Some may have to come to Korea to really understand the previous sentence. Others may not have to, because they understand this all too well.
Of course I didn't know the bride, but since my friends were going and I was there to spend time with them, by default, I had to go with them. For the actual ceremony, I stayed with my friend's husband, away from the ceremony. We were guarding both our and my friends' stuff. Needless to say, we were more than happy to leave. Normally there's an all-you-can-eat buffet at weddings (this one being no exception), but there was no way we were going to stay there. Hence we left to eat some place else, only to discover the food wasn't worth the price we paid.
It's an Italian Restaurant by Yangjae Station (양재역, Line 3, Orange Line) called "6" Plate". This was the worst Italian food we've ever had in our lives. If you're in the area, beware. Who adds fish to olive oil? Who uses ketchup kimchi as tomato sauce? We weren't happy.
So yes, our Sunday was disappointing, but the fact that we were together spared us all.
I took the express bus back. Now I know: Seoul - Wonju = 1 hr. 20/30 minutes. From Wonju - Hoengseong = about 25 min. and from the Hoengseong bus terminal home is about a 10 minute walk. Good to know.
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