Korean Weddings: Part 2

Okay, so I didn't think I would be able to have an opportunity to get to another Korean wedding, but lo and behold, I was invited to a Korean wedding. My co-worker just got married today and I was able to attend the wedding.
The wedding was held at a very fancy and I'm sure very expensive hotel. I think that this hotel is a popular place for weddings because my taxi driver asked if I was going to a wedding when I told him where I was going. Anyways, I arrived at the hotel and found where the wedding was being held, only to come face to face with a bunch of Koreans all staring at me. I stood off to the side until I found a group of my students who had come to see the wedding. I went over and started to talk with them. After a few minutes I saw the room where the bride, Trinity (her English name), was. I found out before the wedding there is a time for people to come and take pictures with the bride and groom. Koreans don't see it as 'bad luck' for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, I guess. So I went and had a picture taken with her.
This is the bride and groom before the wedding.
Then I went to see the students again. The students wanted to have pictures taken with me, so we took a couple of pictures together. Then I looked at the wedding pictures, that had been taken weeks before the wedding. As I mentioned in the previous post about Korean weddings, the pictures of the bride and groom were in different outfits than what they were actually wearing on the day of the wedding. They also had an ice sculpture with two wedding pictures in the center of the ice. It was very beautiful.
This is the ice sculpture.
Soon it was time for the wedding to start. The room that the wedding was held in didn't have enough chairs for all the people attending, so people stood at the back. At this wedding, and at most Korean weddings, there was a man who announced everything that was happening (the mothers entering, the groom entering, the bride entering, each part of the wedding ceremony). I didn't notice this at the other wedding that I went to. So it all began with the father of the groom sitting at the front and then the mothers came in and lite a candle and sat beside the fathers. Then the groom entered. After the bride and her father. Then the ceremony began.
This is the bride and groom during the ceremony.
There was no exchange of rings, which I thought was sort of strange. After a speech from the minister, or whoever he was, the bride and groom bowed to the bride's parents and then the mother of the bride hugged the groom. Then bride and groom bowed to the groom's parents and the mother of the groom hugged the bride. Then they kissed and the parents joined the couple in standing together and all bowed to everyone as the minister announced the couple. Then the couple walked down the asile.
The picture on the left is of the family just before bowing to everyone.
The picture on the right is of the couple walking down the asile together.
After the ceremony group pictures were taken. Family pictures of various sorts and then friends. After the friends' picture there was one more as the bride's best friend caught the boquet (a planned throw and catch). After that was the traditional tea ceremony. I didn't stay for it because it was too long to wait and the room was very small and would have been very crowded.
There was a buffet held at the hotel for the guests of the wedding. It was a nice little buffet with some good food.
All in all, this wedding wasn't too much different from the last Korean wedding that I went to.

School Halloween Party

Well it's that time of the year for Halloween. At my last school, Halloween came and went without as much as a recognition that it was here, but at this school we had a Halloween party. What a day! We started preparing the students a week in advance. They went through a number of activities and vocabulary builders so that they would be ready to have fun on the scheduled Halloween day, the Friday before Halloween. Why this day, you might ask? Well, my co-worker was getting married on the Sunday and she is going on her honeymoon for the next week, making us short one teacher for the next week. It would be really hard to do a big event with one less teacher, so that's why we had it on the Friday before.
The day finally came and all was set. We decorated the school and I carved a pumpkin.
This is the pumpkin that I carved. Notice that the pumpkin isn't bright orange? Korean pumpkins are light orange and this one is actually a little unripe, it's still a little green.
All the teachers dressed up in costumes also. For the elementary students we were to have a face painting followed by a little costume contest followed by a little carnival and then a trick or treat candy giving time.
This is us teachers all dressed up. I got to finally wear my kimono that I bought in Japan.
There were three rooms that the students could choose to go to: a Fun House, a Witch's House, and a Fortune House.
The Fun House was my room. There were three games that the students could choose from: a bobbing for apples, toss the ball in the pumpkin, or knock the cans down. Each game was rewarded with a certain amount of candies.
This is the Fun House with one of the students trying to knock down the cans.
The Witch's House was a true and false game where the students were asked English questions and they had to answer right. If they got it wrong they had to drink a mixture of juices. If they got it right and continued to get answers right they got bigger prizes.
This is the Witch's House.
The Fortune House was a dart game where students threw magnet darts and got points. Depending on the points they would get a certian prize and a fortune to go with it.
This is the Fortune House with the students trying to get more points.
I would say that overall, the elementary school part went really well. A bunch of the kids dressed up and had their faces painted and they all enjoyed all the candy that they were given. I think it was a fun day for them and something that they will be able to remember.
On the left is a picture of a group of boys who dressed up.

On the right is a picture of three girls who dressed up.
For the middle and high school students we had a quiz. The students where separated by class and had to answer questions or guess the correct word. If a person got an answer wrong they had to drink the juice mixture. If they got it right they were given a candy and the team got a point. The team with the most points at the end got a big prize. We also gave them a trick or treat candy giving at the end.
The day went very well, but I was so tired at the end. It's a good thing we don't do big events very often, I think it would take too much out of all of us.

Soda Pop Flavours in Korea

For those of you who are interested to know, South Korea has a limited range of soda pop flavours. I have found the lack of variety to be boring at times, but then all of a sudden South Korea gets a new flavour.
Let's start with the basics. When I first came to Korea I found that the basic flavours of soda pop were Coke, Pepsi, and Cider. Cider, if I could describe it's taste, is a combination of Ginger Ail and Sprit mixed. These are the basic flavours that you can get at restaurants. If you go to the corner store you can get Fanta in 3 flavours (orange, grape, and pineapple). I actually enjoy the pineapple Fanta, it's very refreshing.
After I came back to Korea in February I found that McDonalds offered Sprit. This was a nice change, as I don't really like the Cider soda, as it reminds me of when would get sick and my mom would give it to me to settle my stomache.
A few months after, in the summer I noticed that Mountain Dew started to hit the stores. I'm not crazy about Mountain Dew, but when Mountain Dew Code Red (cherry flavoured Mountain Dew) came out I was in heaven.
When I went to Costco in Daegu I found Dr. Pepper. This is the only time that I've found Dr. Pepper in Korea and that's because it's imported. You can only get it at Costco.
So with the lack of Root Beer, Cream Soda, and Vanilla Coke I am craving these flavours without being able to get them. I just wonder what Koreans would think of these flavours of soda pop that they don't have. I wonder if they would like them or if they would think they taste like medicine. I just hope that one day Korea will import a new flavour that can be bought in any corner store.

Being Sick is Not Fun: Part 2

So here I am, still home sick. It's day 3 and I'm going stir crazy not being able to work or go out of the house. I've been to the doctors 3 days and I still have to go back tomorrow to get checked out. I think I will have been to the doctors almost as many times this month as I've gone in the past year and 3 1/2 months that I've been in Korea.
So the doctor says I have asthmatic bronchitis, croup, and some allergy to something. Who would have thought that a cold would turn into all this... The combination of coughing and not being able to breathe after is very tiring. Last night I had a coughing fit that lasted about 20 minutes and the only thing that calmed it down was finding some Halls that I had brought from Canada.
I've taken pills, cough syrup, and a puffer and as of Wednesday night, tonight, I'm feeling a little better and the coughing is not as bad. Yesterday after getting new medicine from the doctor, my stomache started to feel funny, not settled, but not painful and I was very shaky. I wonder if it's because of all the medicine I've been taking, like my body doesn't like it...
Well I think tomorrow the doctor will say that I can go back to work. I probably would have gone today, but the doctor said one more day. I feel bad for my co-workers, who have my classes to teach on top of their classes. I really hope I can go tomorrow for two reasons, one I'm out of sick days, today was my thrid sick day, and I don't want my co-workers to get over worked with taking over my classes. We shall have to see what tomorrow brings.

Prayer Requests Update

I would like to update my prayer request list while I have the time to do so.
First, I would like prayer for my teaching. I don't want to be dull in what I teach and I want to make sure I continue to be a good Christian witness to my students and co-workers through my actions, if not through my words. I would also like inspiration for new teaching ideas that will make my lessons fun and interesting. I don't want to be boring. Also while you pray for that can you also pray for the students to respect me and behave in class. Sometimes they can be a hand full.
Second, I would like prayer for an English service that I can attend. I haven't found one yet, but I also haven't been looking too far because I found a church that is smaller than the other one and there are many Koreans who speak English. However, it's still not the same having someone translate the service into English and actually understanding things for myself.
Third, I would like prayer for the English Bible study. I have become discouraged and have stopped it because there are no foreigners and the Koreans don't like to open up when we discuss things. I would like it to keep going, but I need more foreigners or I need the Koreans to open up to the discussion and feel free to share things.
Fourth, I would like prayer for a good Christian who I can become friends with to come to Jinju. It can be very lonely on the weekends with nothing to do by myself.
Fifth, I would like prayer for saftey and health while I'm here in Korea. You never know what could happen.
Thanks for your prayers so far and thank you for the prayers of the future.

Being Sick is Not Fun

There have only been a few times that I have been seriously sick while here in Korea and right now is one of those rare times. It all started on Thursday last week when I got a cold. I thought 'This will pass, it's just a cold,' but little to my knowledge it would turn into a combination of 3 sicknesses. As the weekend approached I got a sore throat and was having major headaches with body aches also. This then turned into a cough by Friday night. I took some Niquil that I had brought from Canada and it's a good thing also. From there the headaches continued but the sore throat left. The cough moved down into my chest and Sunday night I was not doing well. When I woke up this morning, Monday morning, I could hardly talk, my breathing was difficult every time I coughed, which hurt my chest and caused shooting pain into my head causing my headache to worsen.
I went to the doctors. I had already decided on doing this on Sunday when I wasn't getting better and my cough was getting worse. The doctor, who I had been to before when I had bronchitis in the spring. He checked me out, told me I had a sinus infection, bronchitis and astham related to the bronchitis. He gave me a shot (seems to be something that they give every time you are sick with something) and gave me a dose of mist stuff that I had to breath through a mask. As I left the doctors I could hardly breathe and I had raspy breathing. This was worse than when I went in, but got better within 30 minutes and helped my breathing.
I picked up my medicine at the pharmacy below the doctors, a mixture of about 6-7 pills 3 times a day and cough syrup. I called my director telling them that I could hardly speak (as she could proabably tell), was coughing like crazy everytime I tried to speak for a long time, and was having trouble breathing so I couldn't work today. She took the news pretty well and hoped I felt better.
I went home made some chicken noodle soup, took my many pills and cough syrup, curled up on my bed with a blanket and watched television all day between falling asleep. I now feel a little better, except for the cough that comes and goes and the slight headache that comes and goes also.
One of the great things is that my director's wife stopped by to check on me in the evening. She brought a humidifier, some juices, and some grapes. My other co-worker also came with her. It was nice to think that they cared enough to do that for me. They are great co-workers! I am very lucky to have them.
It can be very lonely with no one around to be with when you are sick, not that I would be able to talk much, but it would be nice to have someone around. The real problem comes when the only thing on television is Korean shows and movies and I've watched all the movies that I brought from Canada or bought while here. Maybe tomorrow I'll be better enough to go and teach at school. I'm to go to the doctors again tomorrow to get checked out. Maybe things will be better.

A Break Through

I posted an entry about a class that would not speak in class, even when I asked them very simple questions, a little while ago. Well there has been a break through with them as of this week. I'm not sure if it was because the students did very well on their mid-term tests or if it's because they figure that it's time to speak up, but something changed over the past 2 weeks.
As I mentioned before, these are middle school teenagers. I'm not really sure of the reason for their constant quietness in class, but it might be because they are not confindent or they just get a kick out of seeing me try to make them talk. It also could be because they are lazy and don't want to try. Whatever the reason, they have begun to talk in class, even though it is just a little.
So, this class has 5 students in it. 2 of the girls are the most shy and quiet girls I have ever seen. The other 2 girls think it's funny not to give answers or to wait for the answers to be given to them. The one boy in class, I'm not sure what his problem is, but it might be because he doesn't understand or he thinks he's tough. Anyways, the shyest girl has started to whisper answers. At times it's very hard to hear her, but she does give an answer. The other shy girl only speaks when she absolutely knows the answer, but she is starting to try and if she's wrong or is a little off in her answer she seems okay and I try to reaffirm that. One of the girls who doesn't like to talk and waits for the unbarable silence has started to give answers before the awkward silence.
Even though it's a little progress, I still need to work on the boy. I'm not really sure how to get him to speak, but eventually I would like to see him progress. The other girl was absent because of being very sick. She's usually not too much of a problem and I find that she's usually the one who would answer, but she still waits for the long silence while I wait for answers. I would like to see her progress in her confidence so she doesn't wait so long to give answers.

Jinju Lantern Festival 2005 Part 2

Well the Lantern Festival came to a close on Tuesday this week. I was able to go to it 2 more times to take pictures and hang out with friends. The first time I was able to go with Sonja and some other foreign friends and the second time was with some of the church friends again. It was nice and I was able to get some nice pictures. With Sonja I was able to walk across the floating bridge again, only this time coming from the opposit side.
This is the floating bridge going to the opposite side of where the Jinju Castle is.
I was able to snap a picture while walking on the floating bridge. It was difficult because the bridge was moving and people were walking in front of me.
These are the lanterns looking out from the floating bridge. It's a little blurry because the bridge is moving and it's hard to hold the camera still.
I was also able to get a nice picture of the Jinju Castle.
This is the Jinju Castle.
When I was with the church friends I was able to walk along the road bridge and get some good pictures from there of the whole festival and the castle.
This is overlooking the whole Lantern Festival. The Jinju Castle is on the right and the floating bridge goes across the picture.
Other than walking along the river I played a game of throw the dart at the balloon. I was able to win a cute monkey stuffed animal. The church friends that I were with won a flashlight at a bebe gun game and a cell phone key chain at a throw the ball at the cans.
Each time that I went to the festival I had a fun time, even though it was very busy with so many people.

Korean Weddings

I should have probably written about this a long time ago, but never really thought about it until I started talking with my friend Shawn from back home and tried to explain things to him. For those of you who are interested in knowing a little about a Korean wedding, here you go.
So the wedding I went to was for my Christian Korean friend, Young Ho (he's the one who started the English Bible study group). It very strange here in Korea in regards to the engagment period. Young Ho was engaged for about 2 months or so before having his wedding. I thought this was a little strange, but that's the way that it's done here. I was wondering how they get all the planning done before the wedding, but then I heard that they have a wedding planner, apparently very common. I actually didn't hear from the groom about the wedding date, I heard from another Korean friend who got an invitation, as the invitations go out to only a select few and then they tell other people.
The wedding was held at the city hall. Everything was like a wedding that you would see in Canada or the United States accept that there was no wedding party, at least that I could see. The bride was in a beautiful white dress the groom in a black suit. The pastor prayed over the couple and they were married after the vows.
This is Young Ho and his wife to be taking their vows.
After the vows was were things got different. The parents of the bride were seated in chairs on one side and the parents of the groom on the other side. Then the bride and groom bowed to the bride's parents and then they bowed to the groom's parents. Then the minister announced the couple husband and wife. Then they walked down the aisle. Then pictures were taken with family and friends. After the bride threw her boquet to the maid of honour and only she was to catch it.
This is the minister pronouncing the couple.
After all that the bride and groom went into a separate room and there was a traditional tea ceremony that happened. The bride and groom were changed into traditional clothing and had this ceremony with the parents on both sides. I didn't stay to see the whole ceremony because it was in a very small room and there were too many people.
This is the traditional tea ceremony with the special clothing.
Then everyone was invited to the reception, held at a resturant. There were pictures of the bride and groom in their wedding outfits, taken weeks before. The clothes that they were wearing were not even the same ones that they wore at the wedding. The bride was in two different dresses in the pictures, both of the dresses wedding dresses and then she was wearing a different one at the wedding. The reception was all very casual.
All in all it was a very nice wedding. I don't think that it was the same as most Korean weddings would have been. I don't think I will get to see another wedding in Korea, but what I saw shed a little light on what a Korean wedding was like.

Jinju Lantern Festival 2005

Well the Jinju Lantern Festval is here again. It started on October 1st and will go until October 12th. It's ver busy around here because of it and also because of the three day weekend that we have this weekend, Foundation Day on Monday. I have been to the festival 3 times already just to walk around and hang around with people.
On Saturday I was able to see the fireworks. Last year I was working when the fireworks were going so I didn't get to see them. It was cool because I was actually able to get pictures of the fireworks.
Here's some of the fireworks. This is taken from the first bridge looking down the river onto the Lantern Festival.
After the fireworks I walked along the river with some Korean friends from church. It was really crowded because everyone who was on the bridges and along the shoreline to watch the fireworks were now walking along the river.
The lanterns were very nice. Some of them were the same from last year and some of them had changed. There was one that I think is very funny. It's a chicken warrior. Talk about an oximoron.
Here's a picture of the chicken warrior lantern.
I think the most crowded part of the river side was where there was a concert stage set up. There were chairs set up for people to sit on and then there were people standing behind them. Then there was the two way traffic of walking people who could hardly move because of the congestion of people. It was crazy to get through and people were pushing and you could hardly move.
From the river we walked over the floating bridge, that is constructed just for the festival. It took us about 30-45 minutes to wait in line. Across the bridge we went into the castle and walked around and talked. It was nice.
This is the group of church friends that I went to the Lantern Festival with.
I was also there Sunday night with friends from Masan, but the crowd of people was too crazy to walk around for long because of the amount of people there. We didn't stay very long to enjoy much.
The rest of the events that I am aware of are that on Monday night there are supposed to be more fireworks and Tuesady there is supposed to be a parade. There is probably going to be more things happening, but I don't really know of them because everything is in Korean.