On November 29th, 2009 an important event happened in my life. I got married.
This was the happiest day of my life. It was something that I was waiting for ever since I left Gumi back in August of 2008. When I left a part of my soul had died for I had decided it was more important to leave and return to my heaven-Missoula than stay behind and battle the unfortunate circumstances that enshrouded Yale Academy. For 4 months I felt terrible and had to return to Korea. It was for this reason that I gave Korea a second chance. When I got married I didn’t write about it much because I was too busy in preparation for the special day.
So when I came back to Korea I didn’t waste anytime. I met my wife on Christmas and was able to spend my first two days back in Busan with her. I wasn’t going to start working until January 2nd, so I was also able to enjoy a New Year celebration in Daegu with her the following week. It was decided that I would be going to Gumi to meet her parents later that month for the New year in the lunar holiday. I was officially going to get married at this time.
So I started YBM and my ESL Career with adults was underway. I even had a bonus because I was given a kids’ program that gave me a small amount of overtime pay. I was riding high on cloud 9 so to speak, a new job, a new city, and soon to be married. Looking back I don’t know why I was in such a big rush. All I know is that I had met the woman of my dreams and wanted nothing short of spending time with her. It was also at this time that I would truly learn the meaning of Korean weddings.
To begin with the expectations are a lot higher than that of a western wedding. For example, in most occasions if not all the groom is expected to buy a house for the newlywed couple. Money is a huge factor as well as age, job and location.
I was in a big hurry to get married. I had just arrived to Busan and was hoping that we could get married at our convenience. I had just flown across the world to be with my bride and following traditional practices in my country it is usually agreed that the bride and groom plan a wedding date in accordance to their wishes. I was in for a big surprise when it was the brides’ father that determines the date. Not only this but a fortune teller known as a Saju picks the day.
I grew up thinking that fortune tellers were people just smoking dope and living a life being high all the time. All of this talk about this star lining up with that one was just garbage and a waste of talent skill and time but that’s the way of things here. Wasting time. In the tradition of the Lunar Calendar a date was set that was picked by the fortune teller that was best for the two of us depending on the date we were born.
Today is my 123rd day since I got married. There is no important meaning behind the date April 1st. I just wanted to let some readers know about Korean wedding traditions. I enjoy reading Horoscopes and predicting the future based on some hidden signs or meanings that we have to find for ourselves but a saju is still just a man and a man that may not be as intelligent as most people
Here is some superstitions that I have come to believe over the past 20 years. When I was in my youth I wrote a book-the main character was me and I was especially close to a girl named Kim, she had black hair. Although she was my sister in the book I believe I was thinking of my wife even then. I know it’s a stretch. When I was in college I had many Asian friends and they all told me that I would be perfect for an Asian women. Whether those predictions are true or not is a different story.
In conclusion, weddings may be slightly different in any culture but a marriage is still a marriage.
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