Here comes the bride~

The only family I have left in Korea is my grandmother's younger brother and his family. In early May, my second cousin, YoSeob, got married! It was a great time to see the whole family and it was my first time to see a Korean wedding. 

I was especially lucky because grandmother's younger sister was also visiting Korea for the wedding. My Aunt Chunam is pretty good at English and she helped me learn more about my family. 

Here is a distant relative (an English teacher who used to live with my grandmother?), my Aunt Chunam, my second cousin, and her daughter. 

The wedding was in a "Wedding Hall." It was a huge building with several floors dedicated to different weddings. There were two on our floor alone. The actual wedding was in a huge room that was decorated very beautifully.

The groom poses for a photo with the bride slightly behind him.

Then, just like an American wedding, the bride's father walked her down the wedding. Unlike an American wedding, I'm pretty sure the bride rented her dress and it would only be used for this brief part of the ceremony.

The parents of the bride and groom sat on separate sides of the aisle in special chairs.

The grooms parents, aka my relatives

The whole ceremony was done on the raised aisle in the middle of the room. The guests had no assigned seats, but were scattered throughout the hall at tables.

The groom receives the bride and her father

Perhaps one biggest differences between this wedding and a western wedding was the staff member whose job was to adjust the bride's skirt for photos.

Skirt fixing..,..

The ceremony seemed really nice. I unfortunately couldn't understand very much.

There were a lot of songs during the ceremony. Here is a staff member singing a Korean song to the couple.

The decorations in the hall were pretty. There were a bunch of fake trees and chandeliers.

The groom gave a singing performance as well. Here he is serenading his bride.

Please, please, please excuse the horrible filming. I wasn't sure how to use my camera.

There were a few speeches. Here is my grandmother's younger brother sharing some words with the new couple.

Then, there was the bowing. Bowing is incredibly important in Korean culture. First, the couple bowed to the brides parents.

   

And then there was the bowing in front of the grooms parent's. I was sitting nearby, so it was probably the closest I got to the bride and groom.

 

 

And then, everyone bows to the guests as a thank you for our attendance.

And now, the bride and groom are married. Here they are posing as newlyweds. And of course, a photo wound't be complete without the woman adjusting the dress in the background.

After the wedding, I had a chance to get some post wedding photos. Here's some more of the family.

 

Even though Korean modern weddings closely resemble western weddings, there was a tea ceremony at the end in traditional clothes. The newlyweds would pour tea for relatives and then the relatives would share some words of wisdom.

My grandmother's younger brother, his wife, his son, and his wife

 

This was actually the first time I had met my female second cousin. Here she is with her husband, and after with me.

 

My cousin's beautiful hanbok :)

Last Stop: Hanoi; Goodbye Vietnam

Finally, I had reached the end of my trek up Vietnam. My trip ended with the capital, Hanoi. Hanoi was another big bustling city, but it had a different feeling than Saigon. I'm not sure how much of that was the weather; Saigon was significantly hotter and stickier. 

Some streetside dog meat

 In the center of the city, there was a huge pond. The pond is important in a Vietnamese folktale. Right around the pond was all the tourist attractions. I found Hanoi to be very walk-able and centered around this area, but I didn't travel too many places.

 

The pond lit up at night

 I visited a water puppet theater on my first night in Hanoi. It was really beautiful. The entire show was in Vietnamese, but it was easy enough to understand. The puppeteers were standing in water for the whole show behind the backdrop. There were even fireworks and smoke shows.

 

By climbing a fence, I found myself in another park. I couldn't find the exact entrance so a nice man showed me where to climb the wall. This one was dedicated to Vladimir Lenin. It was incredibly peaceful. It was easy to forget that you were in the middle of a bustling city.

This peaceful pond was brought to you by Doublemint gum. Double the pleasure, double the fun with Doublemint Gum!

An Eiffel Tower shaped radio tower over the pond

A girl practicing roller skating

 

After leaving the immediate area around the pond, you get to see more of Hanoi outside of the tourist spots.

A man works in his crowded shop

And eat at some local places. This was one of the most delicious meals I had in Vietnam. It's called "Bun Cha." It had a huge plate of fresh greens and some rice noodles. There's also a bowl with meat soaking in a broth (sauce?). It was so good :)

 I didn't totally avoid the tourist places. I made it to the Temple of Literature. It was another quiet place in the city, but definitely less isolated than the parks. It had some old architecture and temples.

    

And after, I made my way to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. It was closed that day, so I could only visit the outside.

  

Some workers relaxing outside the mausoleum

By the time I made it to Hanoi, I was at the end of my 3 weeks traveling. It was a city with some nice relaxing parks and it was quite welcoming to foreigners.

The entire trip was phenomenal. I really hope to visit again. I'd revisit some places and definitely see more of this amazing country. Anyway, that was my entire trip through Vietnam. I hope you enjoyed looking at the photos as much as I enjoyed the trip. 

Yum? Probably...