A trip to South Korea wasn’t really on my bucket list. I didn’t know much about the country, though Daewoo – a Korean corporation, had invested in my home town to build cars shortly after the fall of communism. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt early enough to be neither memorable nor significant. If I had ever decided to go to the Far East, which was highly unlikely as I was never particularly drawn to that part of the world, I would probably have chosen Japan, like majority of people I know. And then I moved to London…
One day, I came home and noticed a few pairs of shoes placed just outside the door of the neighboring flat. That, combined with the smell of fried pork, immediately made me think of my compatriots. You see, we love pork. It is the meat of choice for us Polish people, and in the few months I had been living in the UK, I had already eaten more lamb than I had in my entire life in Poland. That’s likely because pork is considered cheap and of a lower quality compared to lamb and beef – though I admit, the smell of British pork is not particularly appealing. Anyway, my neighbours had pork; they also did not wear shoes inside; they must have been Polish then. To my surprise, they turned out to be a Korean couple and we quickly bonded over our shared love of food, well, apart from seafood that is, and drink. So, what started as a neighborly connection soon became a friendship, and that’s how we ended up invited to a Korean wedding in Daegu, the city where the bride was from.
the anxiety
With long haul flights, there are always two options, it’s either affordable or quick, never both. Since the direct flight from London to Seoul was already around 11 hours, we didn’t want to stretch it to 18 with multiple layovers. And the fact that the wedding was in August, didn’t help. Summer is always the worst time to find cheap flights, and because the final wedding date was not confirmed until the end of July, we had to hold off on buying tickets.
Thankfully, we did! We were horrified watching prices rise on Google Flights every few days, but when we finally had to book, the shortest and most direct option, an Asiana Airlines flight from London Heathrow to Seoul Incheon was actually the cheapest ever! We paid only half of what the groom had to pay; multi-stop flights were also more expensive. And it was just the beginning of many fortunate events. This was shaping up to be an amazing adventure.
Since I had no idea of what to expect and obviously I didn’t want to bother my friends who were supposed to preparing for the wedding instead of fielding my calls, I bought some books on Korean culture. Definitely not my best idea. I was instantly overwhelmed with information I didn’t really need, and the closer to the departure date, the more nervous I got. And it doesn’t help when your husband tries to calm you down by saying: Everything’s going to be fine, I have so much faith in you. Really?!?! Guilt tripping, are we?!?!
I have to say, my friend Melissa from Hahn Cultural Consulting, who knows a lot about South Korea, loves this country deeply and is very passionate about it, helped me a great deal. First of all, she did what every wise person should do with a child having a tantrum, she told me to stop panicking and start enjoying the amazing experience ahead of me. Well, almost. Since she lives in L.A. and I live in London, she actually sent me a very reassuring email. And it was neatly filled with the right amount of practical advice information I might need, as well as thoughtful suggestions. That was a perfect “melissa infusion” I required for my rising anxiety at that point.
It’s already been weeks since I returned from Korea and I still miss it. I think I left a piece of me there and I truly hope I will come back. I made friends, had some funny failures, I genuinely enjoyed my trip. I hope that the next few posts may offer something useful to those of you who would like to learn a bit about this country and maybe you would travel there too.
Just a small note before you read on. Everything I share here reflects my experiences and impressions; other people may feel differently and not necessarily either ones are wrong. Oh, and obviously, whenever I write Korea, I’m referring to the Republic of Korea – South Korea.
This is the first of many posts about my trip. Several are already written and Part 2 will be available to read the next Monday. For easy navigation through the entire story, each post includes the links listed below.
