Culture Cookies: Korean Weddings

I remember during my first year in Korea I was asked by family back home what Korean Weddings were like. Eventually I went to a few and found them to be less what people thought they would be like. They were still full of rituals, but they seemed to be like just another day in a Korean's life. Korean weddings, for the most part, take place in "wedding halls" where everyone who knows the bride and groom comes. But people mostly seem to come for one thing, the after-ceremony buffet. During the ceremony people talk and walk around like it is no big deal. Although these sights can be alarming to see, it seems Koreans are fine with it. Because of this I have accepted what it is like for Koreans to marry here.

But let's see what other folks think about Korean weddings in their posts as part of my new series, "Culture Cookies." In this series I hope to present how Kbloggers have come to terms with culture shock and other general cultural awareness.

1. Xweing away in Korea: In this post you can see what the actual rituals are during the wedding ceremony are like. But also you can get a feel for how weddings in Korea are definitely different amongst other Asian countries.

2. I Got Seoul: Another really insightful post about the experience where she says, "There was so much missing, it appeared that while marriage is highly regarded, and highly pressured in this country, the actual act of getting married means very little." That certainly explains why the wedding ceremony seems like just another day in the life.

3. Buhay sa Korea: Although this post is about gift-giving in Korea it points to what kinds of gift one should expect to give at weddings. What does it turn out to be? Go and find out.

4. Roboseyo: This post wouldn't be complete without a more thorough look at the whole thing amongst Korean society. He proposes, "And here's the next big kicker: if we accept that, as I said before, nobody owns a culture, then we might need to take a different approach to the wedding hall wedding in Korea." A very insightful post on many topics that you should consider.

 The most interesting thing really, is when Koreans and Non-Koreans marry in Korea. Rob's wedding was very beautiful and less tacky than traditional ones held here. Some folks even manage to have true traditional weddings wearing hanbok and doing it at a palace. Whatever the place or time, marriage is an important step in a person's life no matter what the ceremony is like.