I went to my coworker Ryan’s wedding today. Ryan is the youngest teacher I work with (he’s in his early 20’s), but his English is pretty good (he has a bachelor’s degree he earned in Brisbane, Australia), and he’s a very gentle-spirited person – I actually look up to him in a weird sort of way, as an example of how to keep a spirit of equinamity and calmness in the face of the small annoyances and frustrations of work.
So I went to the wedding, partly out of curiosity about what a Korean wedding would be like. Ryan is pretty hardcore Christian, and the syncretism between Korean traditions and evangelical Christianity was interesting. Some things surprised me: it was in no way a solemn feeling ceremony – this was partly because, in contrast to any wedding I’ve attended in the U.S. or Mexico, the audience never really got completely quiet – there was a persistent buzz of chatter, talking, chatting, teenagers checking their cell phones for text messages, etc. And no one seemed bothered by this. I realized this may have implications for my low-grade annoyance with the way kids seem inattentive in my classes, and that it may be something more culturally complex than just teenage disrespect.
Here’s a picture of the two clans, at the end of the ceremony, with Ryan and his bride in the middle, and their mothers in traditional Korean dress, and some others, and a little ring-bearer (?) also in traditional dress.
It was fairly short. Toward the end, a group of four students from our academy did a karaoke of a Korean song, that was very touching. After the ceremony, I saw Danny and Diana, the former owners of the hagwon, and at the reception buffet we chatted a bit about their imminent move to the U.S., where Danny will be getting his doctorate in Christian education (or something like that).
They then drove me back to Jeongbalsan (i.e. my apt) which was a nice opportunity to talk some more about the school – I could tell they were at least somewhat curious about what changes had occurred, and how I was getting on. I’ve always appreciated their genuine kindness, even if sometimes I felt they perhaps weren’t the hugest supporters of me, from a professional standpoint.
