MC Tiff, Casino, and a Wedding
Friday night was a blast. I went with some friends back to the Rockssin Club in Anyang for Open Mic Night. Once again, the place was packed with other foreigners from our area. I had met the host at the last Open Mic Night, and my friend Amanda had mentioned that I did some hosting on the cruise ship. Around midnight, he pulled me up onstage, and I actually got to introduce a couple of the bands! He introduced me to everyone as the "MC in Training." I was thrilled to death...I have really missed being on the microphone! He told me that I'm welcome to host anytime I want.
Saturday I had to work for three hours to make up for the classes we missed due to the fire. I was exhausted Saturday night, but I met up with Ryan and his brother in Myeongdong and finally had my first real sushi meal since I have been in Korea...it was divine! We then went to the swanky Sheraton in downtown Seoul, which houses one of the city's only casinos. Since it is illegal for Korean nationals to gamble, the place was swarming with Chinese and Japanese tourists and American GIs. I immediately warmed up by dropping $10 on a slot machine, followed by a swift loss of $20 in Roulette, capped off with bidding adieu to $50 in Poker. I shrugged my shoulders, laughed, and we got the heck out of there so that we could still afford a cab ride back to the subway station.
Annie and her new husband bowing to the wedding guests.
Today I witnessed my very first Korean Wedding. Annie, one of my fellow teachers, got married at 1:30 pm in one of the great Korean Wedding Halls. These massive wedding halls consist of several gaudy chapels and a few huge banquet halls for receptions. They host up to five or six weddings a day, herding the people through like cattle. We arrived right as the wedding was about to begin, and since there were no doors separating Annie's chapel from the rest of the building (and the hundreds of Koreans gathered in the lobbies awaiting other weddings), the noise was deafening. As Annie walked down the aisle, a string quartet was playing while thick white smoke was curling down the aisle. I had to stifle a laugh, but was put to silence by the shock at seeing how disrespectful the wedding guests were. Korean twenty-somethings were walking around, taking pictures of each other with their digital cameras, and loudly talking to each other or into their cellphones. Craziness. After the short wedding, we headed upstairs to the banquet hall for a huge Korean feast. It was definitely an interesting experience, to say the least.
Saturday I had to work for three hours to make up for the classes we missed due to the fire. I was exhausted Saturday night, but I met up with Ryan and his brother in Myeongdong and finally had my first real sushi meal since I have been in Korea...it was divine! We then went to the swanky Sheraton in downtown Seoul, which houses one of the city's only casinos. Since it is illegal for Korean nationals to gamble, the place was swarming with Chinese and Japanese tourists and American GIs. I immediately warmed up by dropping $10 on a slot machine, followed by a swift loss of $20 in Roulette, capped off with bidding adieu to $50 in Poker. I shrugged my shoulders, laughed, and we got the heck out of there so that we could still afford a cab ride back to the subway station.
Annie and her new husband bowing to the wedding guests.
Today I witnessed my very first Korean Wedding. Annie, one of my fellow teachers, got married at 1:30 pm in one of the great Korean Wedding Halls. These massive wedding halls consist of several gaudy chapels and a few huge banquet halls for receptions. They host up to five or six weddings a day, herding the people through like cattle. We arrived right as the wedding was about to begin, and since there were no doors separating Annie's chapel from the rest of the building (and the hundreds of Koreans gathered in the lobbies awaiting other weddings), the noise was deafening. As Annie walked down the aisle, a string quartet was playing while thick white smoke was curling down the aisle. I had to stifle a laugh, but was put to silence by the shock at seeing how disrespectful the wedding guests were. Korean twenty-somethings were walking around, taking pictures of each other with their digital cameras, and loudly talking to each other or into their cellphones. Craziness. After the short wedding, we headed upstairs to the banquet hall for a huge Korean feast. It was definitely an interesting experience, to say the least.
Annie and I at the reception.
After the wedding, I met my friend Amanda up in Gangnam for some shopping. I came to Gangnam one afternoon when I first got here, and for some reason I remembered there being loads more stores. Unfortunately, the few shops that they do have are cheezy Abercrombie and Fitch wanna-be stores. Therefore, we hit up some of the knock-off handbag and sunglass vendors before having dinner and calling it a day.
posted by Tiffany Joiner @ 4:29 AM
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