My First Korean Wedding

Today, I experienced another first in Korea...my first Korean wedding. It's strange to think I was here for a year before and never went to a wedding, but it happened!

One of my friends, Sunnie, who is also my co-teacher's sister, got married today, and I was super excited to go! I've heard a lot about Korean weddings, so I was anxious to enjoy the experience for myself. Another co-teacher of mine, Karen, joined me so I wouldn't have to go alone, and I was really thankful for that! All of the other people I knew at the wedding were involved somehow, so I was really glad to have someone else with me!

I compiled a little video for you instead of putting all of the pictures on my blog, so take a look and then keep reading! :)

It was really beautiful and pretty similar to a wedding that I would have attended at home. Let me tell you about a few differences (from my understanding), just in case you're interested!

• Location: Weddings are held in wedding halls, not churches or hotels or outdoors. Multiple weddings go one at one time and right after one another. There room where Sunnie's wedding was held shared a foyer area with another hall. Both of those didn't have doors, so the noise from the foyer area (and there was lots) flowed into the actual room during the ceremony. Also, the weddings are stacked on top of each other. The ceremony I went to started at 12:30pm and there was another one in the same room at 1:20pm.
• Before the Ceremony: The bride and groom see each other before the wedding. Also, before the ceremony, the bride sits in a tiny little room where people can come and see her and take pictures with her.
• Gifts: The couple doesn't register for all of their favorite items at the local homegoods store...everyone gives money (unless you're a close friend). There are people sitting at desks in the foyer area that are there solely to take your money gift. I opted for an actual gift because I am a friend (and a foreigner!).
• Ceremony: The ceremony had a lot of 'Western' elements that I am accustomed to, but there were a few things missing that I typically see in America. First of all, the people didn't stand when the bride entered the hall. There were lots of bright and colorful lights. I think you can see in some of the pictures how the lighting in the room has different tones. Also, there were no bridesmaids or groomsmen standing with the couple. I don't think I heard any repeating of vows going on, but I could be mistaken. The whole ceremony was pretty short, but that isn't too out of the ordinary.
• Wedding Dresses: Brides typically rent their dresses, they don't buy them. The dress was really beautiful, but a little different than one I'd expect to see someone at home wearing. It was really poofy and really sparkly. Another thing I found really interesting was that in the bridal portraits that Sunnie took prior to the wedding, she wore many different dresses.
• Bouquet: I'm not sure how, but someone is chosen prior to the ceremony to be the 'catcher' of the bouquet. After the ceremony, there was a 'friends' picture, and then one girl stepped down to catch the bouquet. I think they still have the same beliefs as we do about the bouquet, but they just don't have to wrestle for it!
• Reception: There isn't really a 'typical' reception after the ceremony. On the floor above the wedding hall, there is a buffet-style restaurant and we were given a ticket to eat there. It was really yummy, but it was PACKED with people. Also, there was no wedding cake...which is a bummer because I love that part! (*You may have noticed a picture of a cake in the video, but I have no idea if anyone actually ate that cake. I'm guessing it probably stayed in the wedding hall for the next wedding!)
• Traditional Ceremony: From my understanding, after the ceremony that I saw, there is a small traditional-style ceremony for close family. The bride and groom change into traditional Korean clothing and have a small ceremony with just a few people. I don't have much knowledge about this ceremony, but I know it is held following the big ceremony.

Even with all of these differences, it's still love and happiness that remain emotions that anyone can understand regardless of which language they speak. Everyone was so happy at the wedding, and it was the type of atmosphere that reminds me why I love weddings so much! 

Taipei - Final Thoughts

This concludes my blogs about my trip to Taipei! It only took a few weeks to get them all done! :) Just a couple final pictures that didn't fit into any other categories!

This is Analyn, my newest friend from the Phillipines. She works at the hostel where I stayed and is super sweet! I had a good time talking with her, and thanks to Facebook, we can keep in touch!

 Foot massage!! I got two of them! It was about $12USD for a 30 minute massage, and it was wonderful!! Definitely enjoyed this relaxing time!! :)

That's all for now!! Next time...Japan!! See you soon! :)

Taipei - Food

And we're back! I'm almost done with my Taipei blogs, which is good since I'm about to go to Japan and take a lot more pictures to show you!! This post is dedicated to some different food that I tried in Taipei.

One night at my hostel, a couple of Malaysian girls were staying in the same room with me, and we got to talking. She was telling me about a place nearby that supposedly had a really good breakfast menu and suggested that I go there as well. So the next morning, that's just what I did! This was my only 'true' Taiwanese breakfast (I'm lame, I know) and it was pretty good. It was definitely interesting, but worth the try!

My breakfast...some baked bread thing with a green onion omelet and a fried piece of dough, served with a bowl of sweet warm soymilk.

 The note that the girls wrote so I could order breakfast!

When I was preparing to go to Taiwan, everyone told me about this restaurant, Din Tai Fung, that I had to try. Apparently it's ultra popular, even with the locals, and it's gone global because of it's popularity. My temple tour guide told me where to go, and off I went!

The sign outside. My original wait time was 45 minutes but it got cut down because I was willing to share a table with other tourists (they were all Japanese). 

My meal...two kinds of dumplings (their specialty) and the house chicken noodle soup. All was delicious! The middle dumplings (pork) were the best...probably why they're the most popular thing at the restaurant!

Enjoying my lunch!

A how-to card for eating the dumplings!

The folks hard at work...making tons of dumplings!

Lastly, the guidebook suggested trying beef noodles because of their popularity in Taiwan. So, one day after shopping, I stopped by a little eatery and pointed to the word in my book, and was brought this meal. It was pretty good, although there was some spice that I couldn't identify that I wasn't too fond of. Besides that, all was great!

I think I ate other Taiwanese foods, but these are the only ones that were picture-worthy...so that's all for now!

Taipei - Confucius Temple & Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

On Wednesday of my trip in Taipei, I visited the Confucius Temple and the Chaing Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Admittedly, these two sights would probably have been more interesting to me if I knew a little more about their histories, but even still, they were good to see.

My first stop was the Confucius Temple. In my guide book, it said this was the best one to see in Taipei, so I went with that advice in mind. I was wandering around aimlessly and snapping shots like a tourist when I was approached by one of the temple's English-speaking guides. The girl was really sweet and we had a good time while she showed me around the temple. It definitely helped to have a guide, because I would have been clueless otherwise! Here are a few shots from the temple visit:

I love all of the bright colors of the temple...look at all of the detail of the ceiling.

Some traditional wear of the temple.

After lunch, I headed to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Once again, I'll reiterate that if I had known more about the history, it may have made more of an impact on me. Still, it was interesting.

The big bronze man is Chiang Kai-shek. Hopefully you can get idea of how big it was from the guard standing on the side.

A view from the top of the memorial. There was some setup for an event, so you can't get the full effect of the grounds.

From the bottom looking up on the top of the memorial.

There was some kind of practice going on and it was really cool to watch.

More bright colors!

The entrance gates for the Memorial's grounds.

The pretty gardens.

The Memorial from a distance.

More pictures to come...once my Blogger decides to cooperate with me!

Taipei - Taipei Zoo & Maokong

On Tueday of my visit to Taipei, I headed to the Taipei Zoo and the Maokong gondola. The zoo is super easy to get to because the subway goes all the way there (another point for the Taipei transporation system!). Also at the Taipei Zoo stop is the first stop for the Maokong gondola. I always love riding on gondolas, so I was excited to ride this one up to the Maokong (I'm going to call Maokong a 'suburb' of Taipei...not sure what the locals call it)!

If you're ever in Taipei and you need something cheap to do, head to the zoo!! It's only about $2USD (60 TWD) and there is a ton to see!! On a special note, don't go there on a Monday...that's when they clean all of the exhibits and so the cool things are all closed!! Also, the gondola is closed on Monday, so you wouldn't be able to enjoy the splendor of that!

Anyways, I enjoyed my day at the zoo! It is really large and there a lots of different types of animals. The main 'feature' are the pandas. I was really excited to see them, that is, until I saw their 'home'. It made me really sad because the baby panda was inside this large building with concrete flooring and a few items to make it seem like home. It almost made me feel bad that I wanted to see it. But, since I did, here are a couple of pictures: 

 This sign that was inside the exhibit made me laugh: 

 I always love seeing the monkeys...so cute!

 For some reason, this zoo had a large focus on poo. This is just a wall near the souvenir shop. And in each of the bathroom stalls, there was a 'fun fact' about poo. I didn't feel right taking a picture of that though! 

I don't want to bore you with zoo animal pictures (you should be familiar with most of them), so that's all for now!

After the zoo, I headed to the gondola for a nice ride up the mountain! Maokong is known for delicious tea, but since I'm not much of a tea connoisseur, I don't really know the difference!! I think my Maokong experience was quite different than the average person that visits there!

The Maokong station at the top of the mountain

 Some views from the gondola

 I did have to have some type of tea at the top, so I went with bubble tea! Before my trip to Taiwan, my cousin let me know that this drink is native to Taiwan. To be honest with you, the tapioca balls kind of gross me out, but the actual tea/milk is really yummy!! 

Thus concludes my day at the zoo and gondola! More pictures to come soon!

Taipei - Taipei 101

By far, my favorite 'attraction' in Taipei was Taipei 101. This is currently the second-tallest building in the world, behind some new building in Dubai. A few years earlier and I could have been to the tallest building in the world! Haha!! Anyways, I have a small obsession with tall buildings, so this was right up my alley!

I went to see Taipei 101 first a night so I could get a glimpse of it in the dark, and then I returned the following day to see it in the daylight. I only went to the observation deck during the daylight, since I still haven't quite figured out how to take good night pictures! Here are a few pictures from the building:

Lots of Christmas spirit in Taipei!

Busy streets of Taipei.

Taipei 101 in the dark!

Taipei 101!!

Views of the city from the 89th floor!

Taipei 101's shadow cast over the city!

More city views!

The world's largest wind damper...apparently this absorbs some of the wind so the building doesn't rock back-and-forth!!

Me at the top!

Probably won't ever see these numbers in a stairwell again!!

Taipei 101's mascot! Cute!

On the 88th floor, they had some displays of coral and jade...I thought it was pretty incredible what people could make out of those! These are coral:

Taiwan!!

Sign marking the building as the world's tallest in 2004!

From the bottom looking up!

And again! The building is supposed to resemble a stalk of bamboo.

The top half of the building.

This is the view from a road near my hostel...which was about 5 subway stops from Taipei 101!

And a familiar LOVE sign at the base of the building!

It was a really nice day, and I enjoyed visiting the building! Hopefully one day, you'll get to experience it too! :)