Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger

Yesterday we attended a Korean wedding. It was a Catholic wedding so I guess it was not really very different from Catholic weddings in the Philippines. It was funny how we came about attending the wedding of Ms. Hong, our program coordinator. Esen and Sophearith, two international students encountered Ms. Hong one day in the hall. Ms. Hong invited them to her wedding and when both go to their dorms, they learned that another student, Elmir, was also invited by Ms. Hong. Esen, in his excitement, jumped to the conclusion that all the international students were invited and emailed all the international students regarding Ms. Hong’s wedding. A lot of people showed interest and discussion, prompting Ms. Hong to email all the international students and inviting them to her wedding also. There were others who were very excited to go while some were having second thoughts because weddings take some time to plan and it would be an imposition to the bridal couple to accommodate at the last minute, some twenty or more guests.

I was not really keen to attend the wedding because I did not think that everyone was really invited but Wendy and Deki were keen to go saying that it was a rare experience to see a Korean wedding. Sol did not want to go. I finally decided to attend because of Wendy and Deki’s persuasive arguments. So I told Wendy to confirm out attendance with Esen. As the day for the wedding drew closer, my uncertainty about attending began to grow. Even on the day itself I was really ambivalent about going. My ambivalence was exacerbated when Deki backed out. Wendy and I wanted to backout to but we already confirmed and I thought it would be twice the trouble for Ms. Hong if she made additional arrangements then we will not show up. When Wendy and I got to our dormitory lounge, where we were supposed to meet the others, there was nobody around. We were already late going down so we were thinking that they left us already. It was not the case. The others were just later than us. My ambivalence climbed a notch higher when I found out that Wendy and I were the only girls in the group, aside from Esen’s wife. There were nine of us from the different parts of Asia.

We were late when we got to the church. The ceremony already started. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a Catholic ceremony. When we took our seats, we saw two of our European women classmates already seated.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, it was similar to the Catholic ceremony in the Philippines exept that the language was in Korean and the couple did not kiss during the ceremony or after the ceremony. The Korean tradition that we observed (something we see in Korean telenovela wedding scenes) was the bridal couple being presented and making their bows to the two sets of parents. Also there was no bridal entourage and secondary sponsors. I don’t know if there were ninongs and ninangs either. I don’t think there were.

There was some photosessions inside the Church for the bridal couple and their parents and another longer one outside the Church. We participated in the one outside the Church. The throwing of the bouquet was scripted wherein the the photographer (or the bride?) selected one woman guest to catch the boquet the bride threw while the rest of the guest applauded. Buffet lunch followed in the basement of the Church. I forgot to mention that when we arrived in the Church, we registered in the guest book at the bride’s side. I wrote my name in Korean Then we were given one food ticket each and we were not made to pay. We were told before by some from the older batch that when you are invited to a Korean wedding, you usually pay for your food.

There were so many different kinds of food that I was not able to taste everything like I wanted to because I was already full from the selection I already chose. The reception was also crowded that it was kind of hard to get a seat. I noticed that there was no special table for the couple and their parents. The couple changed into their national costume and together with their parents visited each table to thank the guests but there were no photosessions unlike in the Philippines. When it was time for the parents and the couple to eat, they just sat in the tables that were already vacated by guests who have finished eating. There was no longer a ceremony or program during the reception.

At the end of the day, I was glad I went. Even though our interaction with Ms. Hong was limited after the ceremony and reception, she was very warm and welcoming when we encountered her, and so was her husband. It was the case of all’s well, that ends well.

Postcript: It is alright to wear black to Korean weddings but I was told it’s not alright to wear white. And Koreans prefer cash gifts.