blog.blog.blog.blog.
blog.
Nothing gets me in the mood to actually make use of Blogger's 'Posting' feature more than reading stuff in that other guy's life. You know him. The guy who you never actually met, but whose life you know inside and out thanks to the good old Internet. The guy with whom the only real contact you've ever had was a comment on a 3-year-old post that said, 'I'm praying for you, Brother' when his grandfather passed away and who you shed a tear of happiness for when his daughter was born. The guy you could pick out of a stadium seating chart but could barely point you out in a police line-up of stalking suspects. Maybe, for you, that guy is me. If it is, thanks! I appreciate that you care enough about my life to put up with my inane, non-cohesive ramblings about whatever comes off the top of my head. If not and you think I'm just some sort of weirdo, then thanks, too! At least you're thinking of me.
Not much time has passed since my last post, which is a both a good thing and a rarity these days. On the wedding front, little has changed, as well. No new planning has happened, at least that I'm aware of. There's been some stressful times, as I've heard are universal to every wedding, everywhere, and there have been plenty more exciting moments. The honeymoon plans are coming together, and the final reservations for my guests are being made. They now have a place to stay for the entire time they'll be on the peninsula. In the meantime, we'll be doing some Hanbok shopping for mom ('I got mine'), DMZing, Suwoning, Jarasum Jazz Festivaling, Gongju and Buyeo Baekje Cultural Festivaling, etc, etc. Of course, there will be plenty of kimchi to go around. Oh yeah, and of course there's the main event, though that goes without saying. Everyone's a little nervous about it, but it will be fun.
Let me take a step back for a second and say how much I respect and love my future in-laws. Mixed-race marriages are a relatively new thing in Korea and are still often frowned upon by much of the older population. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to make a blanket stereotypical statement, but I do have friends who have gone through a heck of a lot more than I have for having the same intentions. Things have improved greatly over the last 10 or 20 years and are nowhere near where they were since the greatest NFL receiver of all-time was a kid, but I won't lie. There's still a long way to go.
But my in-laws are different. I feel so blessed that they have no only accepted me but have truly embraced me as their son. And I'm not just talking about her Mom and Dad. I mean EVERYONE. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandfather, and even a tough-talking Southern country grandma (God bless her). Sure communication barriers still exist, but everyone is making a heartfelt effort to pull them down. I can't really put into words what that means to me. It's okay, though, because (as I hinted above) sometimes we don't need words to show just how grateful we are.
Enough with the sappy stuff. I just wanted to throw that out there because this past weekend was 추석 (Chuseok - 'Korea's Thanksgiving'), and like last year her family and I headed south to Gwangju for a few days with my future father-in-law's family. This wasn't my first time meeting the family, as I was there last Chuseok and for the Lunar New Year, but it was definitely the most comfortable. I was no longer the affectionatetly-dubbed '미국놈' but instead was a budding part of the family. We ate together, stayed together, shared a bathroom together, and traveled a bit to Jindo. It was fun. I even got to watch a bit of NFL football, which makes it almost like Thanksgiving back home (minus turkey, which most Koreans have never eaten, and despite the fact that what I witnessed was more of an obscenity than a real football game that even the greatest receiver in NFL history couldn't fix).
This has now been my fourth and best Chuseok. It's no longer a foreign holiday. It's become my holiday, too. And although a lot has changed since my first one, and I couldn't be happier.
That said, I'm off to bed. Hopefully, you can make sense the gibberish I've just typed out. And thank you in advance for the guy who comments on this post to say 'Congratulations on your new baby girl,' when she is born...five years from now.
Until next time
-스티브
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