Getting Married in Korea

So the next step after getting engaged was to go get married. We couldn't leave it for long since we thought it would be better if we were married when Samuel applied for his visa to Canada. The Canadian government doesn't care if you're engaged. The previous times Samuel had applied for a visa the consulate people told him that it would be so much easier if we were married. Okay, we'll get married then.

At that time at work we were short a teacher which made it rather difficult to take a day off to go to Seoul. I asked my boss and he said it would be better to wait until October when we would have another teacher and it would be easier to fill in for me. I wanted to have the visa paperwork done by then. We decided that I could take the next Thursday off since it was a field trip day to watch a musical so it would be easier to have someone else supervise my kids. But, I couldn't have the whole day off, just the kindergarden part. I would still have to come back to teach my afternoon classes if possible. Okay then.

Thursday, September 9 came around and I got up really early so I could be at the embassy when it opened. I met Samuel at the subway station closest to the embassy and we walked over. When we got there we were given two different forms to fill out in triplicate. An hour later, once we had finished filling out the forms, we were given a number so we could wait. So we waited. Eventually our number was called and we went into this little closet-sized room with a woman sitting behind bullet-proof glass. We gave her our paper work, passports, and the forms Samuel needed from Tanzania. She stamped the forms, asked for money, and then told us to go to the Korean government office. We eventually found the Korean Government office which is not as easy as it could be. There are no street addresses in Korea. Usually there are maps, but they aren't always very easy to follow. The Canadian embassy is really difficult to find. Anyway, we found the government office. We took our number so we could wait. We waited. When our number was called we went to the desk and gave the woman there our paper work. She gave us another form to fill out. We filled it out and gave it back to her. She stamped everything and said, "You're done here." Um, that's it? Apparently it was. We were now married. It was not the most exciting event in my life.

After getting married you have to have some sort of reception, so Samuel and I went out for lunch at an Indian restaurant. Then Samuel had to go to class and I had to go to work. We didn't even see each other again until the next evening.