a korean wedding

dear diary–
today i attended my first korean wedding. and no it wasn't mine…it was by boss's brother-in-law's. mr. oh, jane's father, invited us. the wedding was held in a banquet hall. by the time we got there the room was completely packed so we stood along the wall with jk. first to walk down the aisle was con, jane's brother who was getting married. when he got to the front the lights dimmed and then the dry ice started. yes they had dry ice at the wedding. as the bride made her way down the aisle a giant spotlight was on her. it was pretty amazing. she had on a western style dress and he wore a tux. they were having two ceremonies. the first a western style one and then after they change into traditional korean wedding attire and going into a separate room for the korean ceremony. of course horace and i were the only foreigners there. it wa great seeing the woman dressed in hambaks [sp?]. we stood there for a bit until jk motioned for us to follow him. he lead us into another group that was completely packed with people sitting at tables eating. i wasn't sure where we were going. at first i thought we were cutting through to get to the other side until he sat us at a table. apparently this room was filled with guests too. instead of being in the actual ceremony room they sat at tables eating and watched the ceremony via a video. it was very lynchian. we started off our meal with an appetizers of raw fish, shrimp, and scallops. we also had clam chowder. i'm quite surprised that i actually ate the tuna and salmon. i guess being in korea has completely changed my eating habits. after the appetizer they brought out a salad. for the main course we had steak, rice, a giant shrimp [and i mean giant], and some spicy cucumber. it was all very delicious. jk kept leaving us every once in awhile to take care of wedding duties: pictures, pictures, and more pictures. so there we sat at a table we a bunch of people we didn't know and either in jk and in a room filled with hungry koreans. it was actually quite comical. literally 30 minutes later the room was vacant. it was basically horace and i and some people at another table. it appears that they come to the wedding, watch, eat and then leave. i think there were over 200 people there. feeling uncomfortable sitting in this almost empty room watching them clean up we went into the hallway where we saw jk. we went into the main room where they were they had the ceremony and said hello to mr. and mrs. oh. it's unbelievable how amazing these people. they kept making sure we had enough to eat and asked us to stay to watch the korean ceremony which we did. it was such a great experience. they wedding clothes were amazing. during this part of the ceremony the couple pour tea and bow to their family. then the parents of the groom throw nuts into a piece of fabric that the bride and groom are holding. this represents good fortune and family. mr. oh made a comment about how he wishes for lots and lots of grandchildren. this part of the ceremony lasted for 30 minutes and that was jsut for the grooms family. after they were done the oh family left so that they could do the same for the brides family. i can't even explain how wonderful it all was. this is exactly the kind of experience i wanted to see here. i'm completely lucky to be working for people who have taken us in and treat us a family. the best part of the whole day was watching everyone get a kick out of us saying hello in korean. i took a few photos and will post them soon. be well…