Maybe I'm just getting old, but life seems to be moving at warp speed these days. Whenever I sit down to write a blog, there are far too many things that have happened and I end up doing a lot of omitting and summarizing.
I am back home in Minnesota for my sister's wedding, and it seems like I was just here yesterday. In the six weeks that I've been back in Korea since the last home visit, I've given two teacher-training presentations for S.M.O.E., made two T.V. appearances, resumed Korean lessons, started taekwondo classes, and participated in a "Mass Freeze" at COEX with Vicky. I thought that when the majority of my friends left in August, things would sort of settle down, but that hasn't been the case at all. I like being busy, but I think I'm putting too much on my plate these days.
As for the wedding, it was kind of a blur; I flew in Wednesday night, ran errands all day Thursday, Thursday night was the rehearsal dinner, then I woke up Friday morning to the hair and make up lady arriving at our house to beautify the bride and bridesmaids.
The ceremony itself was beautiful; I told my sister that she did a great job of choosing the music, flowers, etc., and I wasn't even there to boss her around! (I am kind of a know-it-all big sister) I think the highlight of the wedding for me might have been at the reception, when my mother, aunt, and their childhood friend wanted me to teach them some new dance moves during "Ice, Ice, Baby."
It was a crazy weekend and it went by way too fast, but it was really good to see everyone. I spent a lot of time at the reception answering questions about Korea. I realized people really don't know very much about it. One of my cousins asked how life was in "Tokyo." I said, "I live in Seoul...Korea." He's like, "Oh, they're all the same to me." He was half-joking, but it is true that aside from Japan and maybe China, people don't really pay attention to this part of the world, and I was more than happy to fill them in.
Some of the common questions I was asked:
"Do they eat kimchi for every meal?" Yes, but kimchi is a side dish, not the main part of the meal.
"Is the education system better?" Yes and no...the students are more motivated and take their education seriously, but the focus is on test scores rather than learning for learning sake.
"Are you like a minority over there?" Yes, totally.
"Do you like it?" Love it.
It made me grateful that I took the plunge and moved to Korea over a year ago; otherwise my knowledge of Korea would have been confined to KIA and Kim-Jong Il.
Also, on Thursday I purchased (or financed, I should say) my first DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera! I've been wanting one forever, and my sister's wedding seemed like a good excuse to get it. I'll be paying it off for the next year or so, but it takes fantastic pictures and I think it was definitely worth it.
Testing out the new camera before the Rehearsal Dinner
St. Ambrose of Woodbury (where the ceremony was held the next day)
My sisters, after hair & make up
The bride just before the ceremony
My mom, aunt, and Kathy rocking out at the reception
My little bros looked so handsome :)
One of my favorite pictures; me & Nat with our new brother-in-law :)
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