On January 17th, 2014, I never could’ve predicted where I would be standing a year later. This last Saturday (January 17th, 2015), I woke up earlier than usual in anticipation of what was to come. By 11:00 AM I was freshly showered, my hair was combed, and my neck tie was knotted perfectly beneath my shirt collar. Then, less than an hour later I was standing beside a beautiful young Korean woman who I’d only met just 5 months ago. Even on the most ordinary of days, her stylish clothes and warm smile always made her stand out in a crowd. But today in particular, all eyes, including mine, were on her. After all, the stunning white dress wrapped around her petite hour-glass figure made it impossible to look anywhere else.

In Korean, the photographer said what I could only assume to be the equivalent of, “Smile!” as the camera flashed. For a brief moment, it struck me how odd it was to see the bride before the ceremony (since it’s considered bad luck in America). But as I’ve come to learn in so many ways over the past few months, Korea only embraces a handful of Western ideas/norms and does away with all the rest; which is totally fine. After all, this was a Korean wedding, led by a Korean minister and attended by Korean people in a Korean wedding convention center in Korea, so who was I to argue with such a custom? It also wasn’t my wedding. So that significantly reduced the relevance of any of my opinions.

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