Earlier this month, Sandy and I were invited to attend the weddings of two teachers from the KEBS Sunday School class that we help to teach at The Joyful Church in Pohang. Pictured above is our friend Samuel and his new bride. Their parents stand together on each side of them as they are presented to their 500+ guests as husband and wife for the first time. Korean weddings are very elaborate affairs. Both of the weddings we attended (one on Saturday and the other on Sunday afternoon) were held in the Grand Ballroom of the Philos Hotel -- the biggest hotel in Pohang.
In between these two formal events, we were invited to serve as judges that Saturday night for the University's International Student Union "Open-Mic" talent show. Our trainer, Aleksey, was among the many contestants. As a graduating senior this semester, he sang a parting song that brought tears to many of the young ladies' eyes. I was happy when the other five judges agreed with me that Aleksey was clearly one of the top performers of the night. He won second place! I was called upon to announce the winners and hand-out their prizes.
We enjoyed a full weekend of celebration and quite a bit of fun! There was a striking similarity, though, between the weddings and the talent show. All three were very much staged "productions." At both weddings, special songs were sung by friends of the bride and groom. The second wedding even featured a singer who is well-known in Korean popular culture. The weddings themselves were performed in the midst of banquet tables at which many of the guests had already begun to eat and drink even as the ceremony was occurring.
The weddings were, however, distinctly marked by the honor given to the parents of the bride and groom in Korean culture. At the point in the wedding ceremony when American bride's and groom's would give roses to their mothers, the newly wed Korean couple is instructed by the presiding minister to turn first to the parents of the groom and bow. The bride bows from the waist so that her upper body is at nearly a 90 degree angle to her lower body. The groom, however, goes down on his knees and then bows with his arms extended out in front of him along the floor and with his face all the way down to the ground.
After bowing to the parents of the groom, the couple comes across to the parents of the bride and the same bowing ritual is performed in their honor. The value and respect such actions showed to the parents of the married couple was definitely the hallmark of the ceremonies and what -- in the midst of a fun and entertaining weekend -- we will remember most from these two weddings and a talent show.
