My Second Sister Gets Married

I have two sisters. One of them is by blood, one of them is not. Two summers ago my American sister married and this last weekend my Korean sister married as well. After arriving at the wedding hall I first saw the welcome table for the bride (can give your gift of money, say hello, sign the guestbook). Next I saw one of the mothers dressed in hanbok in front of the traditional flower displays you will see at various events.

To the side they have the photobook, filled with pictures taken before the wedding while wearing various wedding clothing.

The student orchestra warms up. And then one of the students asks me if I am going to see my sister or not. Now I am used to the idea of the bride and groom not seeing each other before the service. Isn't it traditionally bad luck? But then I find my Nuna (big sister) sitting in a room accessible to everyone. She'll pose for pictures and then return to her very stoic pose. Okay, so I guess it isn't bad luck for non-groom people to see her before the ceremony.

Teachers want to take a picture with their fellow teacher? Not a problem. Different group of teachers go up, sure thing. Admit it, it took you a few minutes to find me there. I just...blended in. Just like Waldo~

Bummer they weren't flower girls; they were so darling. Come to think of it, I haven't seen flower girls at a Korean wedding before. Students in their uniforms want to take a picture with their teacher? No problem. But what about the groom, surely he isn't allowed in; bad luck right? Guess not. Acting cute for the camera. Now with a heart shape to show your love. Teachers' turn!

In traditional Asian photos no one smiles. Not even at a wedding. Well, to get away from those traditionally "boring" photos, we gotta spice things up a bit.

He's got such a kind smile. Song of blessing as they pull out the white cloth for the couple to walk upon.

Truly guess forget about not seeing each other before the wedding. Really like the coloring with this one.

This was a parody song of some sort. I kept hearing lines about "beautiful woman" and "great woman" but really didn't catch the rest.

Fun action shot.

What's fun glancing at this photo is that I recognize twelve people in it. But for me, the part I was looking forward to the most happens after the Western-style ceremony; there is a private ceremony only for family (and Rick!). The couple dress in extravagant clothing and go through a few rituals. After that they change to more tame traditional clothing and then go off to their honeymoon. The best part of the day: I got to see my sister and brother-in-law in hanbok ^_^v

Dance Party, er...I mean English Class

The students are in the middle of midterms, which is never a fun time; they are tired, don't want to talk in "English Conversation Class," and a number of the kids are getting head colds. I have found it is really hard to teach around this time and last year ended up forfeiting the day before midterms simply telling the kids they have a self-study time; much to their delight.

I did that again this year but my 8th class was really disappointed by my idea. Their Taekwando class consisted of changing into their uniforms and then studying alone for two hours directly before my class >_<' Dang it.

Getting input from the students they really wanted to hear some music, as they are not allowed to have MP3 players, they really wanted to hear music. I pulled out my iPod, hooked it up to the computer, and handed it to one of the students who became the class DJ. They played Black Eyed Peas, Wondergirls, Loveholic, Jaurim, Boa, Jewelry, Chaeyoon, and Clazziqui.

But the even bigger surprise was they had the dance steps memorized for these songs. At a minimum we had four students doing the entire dance sequences from the music videos. I have learned how Asians from several East-Asian countries enjoy singing in public but somehow I have missed their desire to dance. Another day another realization.

Fan Death - The Silent Killer

A friend a few years ago had a homestay in a Korean home (this all happened in Seoul) and one morning he complained about his experience the night before. It was summer, it was hot, he turned on his fan, X amount of time later he went to sleep only to later wake and discover the fan was turned off. Hot, he turned it back on and went back to sleep. He later awoke again and discovered the same thing. The following morning the family told him, very seriously, that they saved his life.

I have since learned about a saying in Japanese that roughly says "don't let a breeze cross your face while you sleep." I have discovered that a fan (breeze) will sometimes give me a sore throat if the air was dry. Pouring water on the hard floor or putting a bowl of water out saves me from any discomfort.

Since Korea has had very hard times in its' history, simple colds could lead to bigger health problems sometimes being death. Case in point, they celebrate the 100th Day Birthday of children as it is an indicator of the health of the child; if the child is still alive and healthy after 100 days, chances are the child will live for years to come.

So okay, head colds are bad, in poor conditions it could prove to be more dangerous. That all makes sense to me. Then I was reading my favorite expat blog and they linked to Wikipedia's page on "Fan Death". In summary there are several methods in which people can die due to use of a fan:
-vortex is created which takes the oxygen out of the air: death by suffocation
-oxygen particles are broken apart: death by suffocation
-the fan uses up all of the oxygen in the room causing carbon dioxide poisoning
-body temperature will change too dramatically causing hypothermia

There have been many news articles on "fan death" and the victims it has claimed, not to mention some indie short films on the subject.

I asked one of our English teachers about their views on the subject, only to have them confirm the urban legend. Standing up, she then asked all of the teachers in the Teacher Room their thoughts; everyone straight-faced agreed that fans are in fact deadly. Thirty minutes later another teacher confirmed this and warned me to be careful.

Don't worry if you've never heard this before. Koreans will also proudly tell you that kimchee cures bird flu as well as SARS, not to mention it will prevent multiple kinds of cancers, improve the skin, and literally is the cure to the common cold.

Not to mention that Koreans are more vulnerable to contracting Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (Mad Cow) despite the fact that no Korean has ever caught the disease in the last 28 years.

I have previously thought that this shirt was funny (closeup on the image), then extremely, and now I'm just shaking my head.

Oh, and I should mention that thankfully we Americans are the rational ones. I have yet to hear of another country having animal psychologists to determine what our cows are thinking. Through one of these psychologists we Americans now know that cows don't want to be sent to Korea. Oh yes, the rational thinkers.