Dong-Yun's Wedding / Halloween

My friend Dong-Yun was married on Halloween weekend, and since she got married near Seoul, it provided me with the opportunity to go up to Seoul for the weekend before Halloween and then down to the wedding before school started again on Monday.

Here is Dong-Yun and her husband posing with me. After the wedding, the bridal couple change into fancy hanboks and go around the buffet hall greeting and thanking people. We only got a moment together, since they were busy, but at least I got this picture!
More after the jump.

As I said, the wedding was on the weekend before Halloween. Seoul is the only place you can really see any signs of Halloween, since the holiday isn't celebrated in Korea (outside of places like Baskin Robbins and Dunkin Donuts). But on Saturday night, it was in full swing in Itaewon (the foreigners' market in Seoul), where costumed foreigners turned out in droves (along with the occasional costumed Korean). Since the clubs don't close, the party basically went all night and it was absolute insanity trying to find a taxi to go home. Nonetheless, a good time was had by all.

Because the apartment where my friends were sleeping was very crowded, Courtney and I opted to spend a night at a jjimjilbang, a 24-hour public spa/bath. This was my first time doing it, but I quite enjoyed the experience. Basically, you pay a very cheap fee and receive a loose t-shirt and shorts to wear and two towels, as well as a locker key. You lock up your stuff, get naked, and the jump into the public shower/bath area. This means being naked in front of various strangers (the showers are gender-separated), so some foreigners are wary of it. I was too, at first. But I remember some time ago when Mrs. Yu tried to get me to go to one and told me, "No one cares that you're naked. No one is paying attention to you." And really, it was pretty true. Possibly as a super-white foreigner, some people may have been paying attention to me. But you just block it out. After that, you put on your t-shirt and shorts and enter a common sleeping area where you can sleep on a mat for as long as you like. You can stay the night at these places or just pop in for a nap. Courtney really likes them because they are much cheaper than hotels. Of course, there is less safety and less privacy. So it all boils down to priorities, I guess.

Sunday morning I had difficulty getting a subway to the suburb where Dong-Yun's wedding was held thanks to the infrequent subway schedule for that line. And since Korean weddings are so short, I ran the risk of missing it entirely. Luckily, I just made it, although I couldn't get any good pictures. Contrary to rumor, several of our school's teachers showed up, as well as some of our students, who performed a song. It's common at teachers' weddings for students to perform a comedic love song or pop performance.

Dong-Yun posing for photos with her family and faimly-in-law. The wedding hall was very pretty and her dress really suited her.

Another shot showing the dress as well as our students. Seconds after this photo was taken, the other teachers from our school and I were ushered up to be in this photo. Possibly that is even what the cameraman there is talking about.

 These are the only pictures that came out. After the wedding, I returned to Daegu with Mrs. Yu, who was also in attendance. I stayed over at her house that night and went to school with her on Monday morning. She recently moved to a new house, and it's very nice! I do have pictures of that somewhere, so I'll put them up later.