This weekend was a long one...started with the coldest run in recorded history on Thursday afternoon and ended with a Korean wedding. Hmmm...much to tell.
I have amazing running apparel that ensures I am warm from head to toe whilst running. However, the clothes do not afford the luxury of stopping or walking...it's just far too cold for that. I can walk for about 60 seconds before I'm freezing, so I have to be careful. I went too far on Thursday and because I was on the river with no house or business in sight, I had to just keep running, push on past the pain, because the pain of freezing to death was all to real at the time. I took a very hot, very long shower to compensate for the abundance of frigidity, but I think I'm still cold from that. Since Thursday was payday, I went out for the first time in a long time and was overserved at Happidius. Sigh. Friday was my work Christmas getaway and sleeping in to recover was not an option.
We left school at around 12:30 on Friday, after the kids were done their exams. Something else I don't understand: Koreans don't use the heat in their cars. And you know that slight draft you get at your feet when it's minus 100 outside? That is magnified when you are freezing cold to begin with (this blog has a definite cold theme. As I write it, I sit at my desk with three shirts, a huge sweater, tights, pants, socks, my scarf as a blanket on my lap, and my winter coat on. Note that if it was this cold at home, the children would not be allowed in the building. I heart Canada right now). After about an hour of driving to the east coast, we stopped for homemade noodles. I was warm for the first time in days. We checked in to our nearby accommodation, a beautiful hotel over looking the sea. We got there at 3 and had nothing planned until dinner, so the men retired to their room (common room where everyone slept on the floor, Korean styles) and the women to theirs. Then we chatted. In Korean. On the floor. For three hours. Enough said. We did take a walk to see the sights and even skipped stones on the beach. But we only lasted about a half hour, since it was frigid, especially beside the sea.
Winter Sea by LJ Powers http://fineartamerica.com/
Dinner was delicious, but (obviously) freezing. We went to an adjoining tent where a barrel acting as a wood-burning stove placed in the centre of the room kept us "warm". Right. We had fresh shellfish (or as they call it, "seashells") for dinner...it was amazing. And just like we had at Mudfest, the shells came out of a cooler, and were placed on a grill in the centre of the table. Once the mollusks opened up, we could eat 'em. It was delicious.
Norebang followed. You know, Korean karaoke. It lasted two hours? Three hours? I have no idea...I lost track of time. I was delusional due to exhaustion and just had to retire at around 10:30. We were all woken up at 4 am when the late shift of singers came to the room. They turned on all the overhead lights and were having quite the party. Alright, yes, that was annoying. But more annoying, almost unbelievable was that everyone was UP at 6 am. I woke up to the sound of, "Alexis, you have to get up, it's seven o'clock already." Already? Why are we awake at this god-awful hour? Turns out they were supposed to be at school (on Saturday) at 8:20. They didn't quite make it, but we weren't far off.
I took a nap as soon as I got home in my efforts to warm up again after a ferociously cold ride home in a van. I had agreed to meet my friends for lunch before heading to the Museum of Contemporary Art, so off into the cold again I went. Man, even getting to the bus stop is a chore in this weather. Lunch was amazing and only cost a dollar (ha-what? Loving the tofu), then we hopped on the subway (platform unheated. Note I'm still writing wearing the winter coat. I'm thrilled) to Seoul Grand Park. I don't really get it...you get off the subway and then have to essentially walk through the entire park just to get to the museum. There are no "it's freezing outside during half the year here so we're going to construct this place appropriately so patrons don't have to suffer just to get here" concessions made. I think the farthest I've walked is at the mall at Christmas (4 minutes, tops) and at the Royal Botanical Gardens (when you have to park really far in the back and the front door looks miles away). But then, you get out of your hot car, take a short, cold walk, and are greeted by the warm inside. Korea hasn't mastered all this indoor heat yet. I wonder if they'll ever get it.
After the museum, we hopped back on the subway and headed to City Hall for the Handel's Messiah performance at Chung Dong Church. Trying to catch a cab near City Hall is honestly trying to accomplish the impossible. Again, FROZEN. Sigh.
The performance itself was remarkable. The audience, choir, orchestra, and soloists was comprised mainly of foreigners. The pastor said that a Korean person told him he felt like a foreigner there that night. It was so nice to see so many people dragged out into the cold just to experience this time-honoured Christmas tradition. It was three hours of quiet, peaceful choir...I must admit I was a little teary-eyed at parts, but far less than I anticipated being.
We headed back to town after the show was over, hungry and a little cranky, being that we hadn't eaten since noon. We went back to Happidus for some french fries and Kahlua and milk. Nothing warms the bod quite like Kahlua. Mmm...I could go for a hot toddy right now. Too bad it's only 1:30 and midday drinking (at least at school for a woman) is a little frowned upon.
Sunday was my first Korean wedding. Oh my. I thought it was going to be VASTLY different, after fair warning from my friends and co-workers, but was surprised when it was really quite similar to our weddings. To put into words the decoration of this hall would be tough, but I'll try. The sheer opulence was close to over the top without actually getting there. An isle down the centre of the room seemed more like a stage than anything else. It was flanked with reconstructed birch trees, from which hung various sizes of mirrors, decorative balls, and those little acrylic bubbles that look like water drops. To the outside of the room, white table-clothed tables and white chair-covered chairs filled the spaces to the walls. But these were no ordinary walls: they had picture boxes inside them, filled with tiny pink bricks, layered and stacked nearly to the ceiling. The walls were all painted a very soft pink, as the day, much like at home, revolves around the bride. As we approached this room, the groom, his family, and the bride's family welcomed us. But before we could find a seat, we first had to give our bousta (the direct English translation of the Korean expression is "congratulatory money"), whose amount was openly recorded in large ledgers by a team of four men. In exchange, we were given a ticket for dinner. A ticket. THEN we went to view the bride. There she sat in a room off to the side of the main hall, on a chaise, decked out in a very traditional white wedding dress, flanked by flowers and other "wedding decoration". It was hilarious. This tiny "beautiful room" offered her some privacy when a large red curtain (think curtains at the Globe Theatre circa William Shakespeare's time) was drawn across the small space. It was quite regal actually: reeked of olde royalty...I was quite smitten with the beautiful room.
The mothers of the bride and groom walked down the isle first and rested at the end of the LIT stage...ahem...aisle in large lounge chairs. Niiice. Following them, the groom proceeded. The crowd hooted and hollered. I was appalled. The bride was escorted by her father, and nothing strange happened during her walk. Thank God.
Our principal officiated the marriage, though this was not made clear to me at first. There is no formality with this part of the ceremony, if you ask me. The officiate (who, note, is not a pastor or minister: is simply a person of prominence in the community, selected by the bride and groom) asked the groom if he promises to love the bride forever. To which the groom must reply, "Yes" in the most booming voice he can muster. The bride is asked the same question, but is expected to simply say yes, not scream it. During the 30-minute ceremony, the crowd that gathered in the back of the hall talked the entire time, making it hard to hear (not that it really mattered: I couldn't understand them anyway). When it was all over, we clapped, took pictures with them at the "alter", and then they finally kissed. More accurately, pecked. I guess outward expressions of affection are only appropriate when on the subway, not at your own wedding. Oh Korea, you got me again.
Dinner was splendid. It was described as a fusion meal (western and Asian mixed), so there was plenty of fresh seafood, fruit, and vegetables. There was an abundance of meat though...I was tempted to consume all the duck, but held myself back. There were also sushi, salad, and soup bars. It was great. One of the teachers brought his daughter (and wife). Every time the kid looked at me, mesmerized (first foreigner? I think so), she'd burst into tears. I've never felt so rejected :( I tried to assure the table that kids never react this way, but they didn't much care.
And that was that...the wedding that I prepared to experience every Korean culture had a shockingly large amount of western traditions too. Oh, the bride and groom changed into hanboks (traditional Korean outfits) right after the ceremony was done, came upstairs, and wandered around to talk to all the guests at dinner. It was just like our weddings, but condensed into a mere two hours. Pretty efficient if you ask me.
Good news: Leanne has booked the barn for sure. So we are having a wedding in September, folks, and yours truly will be home until then. A whole summer with my friends and family. Good thing you bought that house, Joelle...I don't think Alicia and Dave could tolerate me for two and a half months :)
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