A Wedding and the Lotus Flower Festival

This weekend I was able to attend a wedding and the Lotus Flower Festival. I will start with the wedding.

First, it was not a traditional Korean wedding. It was held in a Cathedral. The wedding itself was nice but a little boring. We were also told to stand, sit, stand, sit, stand, sit, stand, sit, stand some more, and then finally it was over. I guess the wedding was about an hour or so.

Second, was the reception. Well, the bride and groom do not even eat in the same area as you. They, along with their family, eat by themselves in a room. They do walk around and say hello, bow, and thank you for coming.

Last, I was the only foreigner there. This was to be expected. I am glad that I was able to meet some of the family before the wedding. A few weeks ago, my friend invited me to her house to meet her sister (who was getting married) and mother. While I was there, I was able to meet her aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandmother. They are all very kind. Even at the wedding, they remembered me and tried to talk to me. I say try, because I still don't know enough Korean to have a conversation and they don't know English. So, we smile, nod, and bow. I appreciate being invited and glad I was able to attend.

Now, the Lotus Flower Festival. It is a festival for Buddhists mainly, but anyone can come out. While there, you can enjoy some nice tea and make some paper lanterns. I went into one of the tents to try some of their tea. I sat next to a monk while the woman serving me tea, showed me the proper way of drinking it. There is a method of how to drink tea properly. She told me that you can not use the tea leaves for more than three cups or so. All of this was very interesting.

Afterwards, I got on a bus and headed home. The following photo is of a mountain off in the distance. I just thought it was pretty and took it from the bus. The rest are from the Lotus Festival.