My First Asian Wedding

​Today I went to my first wedding here in Southeast Asia. One of our coworkers came back from the holiday and told us she was getting married this Sunday. We were shocked that it was so soon, but that was the date the fortune teller said was a good day to get married.

So today our staff met at school at 7:30am to take a school van to the wedding. It was an hour and a half drive away. On the drive we played truth or dare. I learned that our staff loves to sing, they are ruthless with dares, and they ask some really personal question. It was a hard game to play with them. LOL. I was scared of the questions they would ask for truth and the dares they would choose, but I ended up sticking with truth. My questions all had to deal with my (nonexistent) love life. They are very interested in knowing how many people I have dated and if there is a special someone back home.

The wedding began at 9am with a "party" at the bride's family home. We were fed "lunch" at 9am and had a drink with the family. At 10:30 we went to a Karaoke place down the street to wait till the groom comes to take the bride to his family's house.

I finally got to do Karaoke in Southeast Asia. It's not really like the states where you sing in front of everyone on a stage. Here you rent a room and you just sing with your friends. It was a lot of fun. I only wish there was more English song options :). At 12 we headed back to the bride's house to wait for the groom.

The groom came at 1:30pm. The bride and groom go to the family's alter to pray to the ancestors. Then they go to each guest to thank them for coming. At 2:30 we were supposed to all caravan to the groom's house. This signifies the bride leaving her family and joining the groom's family. Our group however bailed out and decided to head back home.

On the car ride many people fell asleep. My co-homeroom teacher and I practiced some English and she helped me with my language learning. I also braided her hair (which is difficult to do on a moving bus). I really enjoyed spending time with my coworkers. I really love them. I pray God continues to build these relationships and plant a seed to be watered and cultivated into a relationship with Him!

Fresh Air... YES PLEASE!!!!

Last weekend, my roommate and I had the amazing opportunity to go to SaPa. Sapa has an altitude of 1200m to 1800m. There are six ethnic minorities found there. There are also beautiful views everywhere you go. We took the 6 hour bus ride to this beautiful town Friday morning. We also took our administrative assistant with us! This was a great get to know her more and God opened a lot of doors.

We had the opportunity to go trekking on Saturday. We went to the mountain to Love Waterfall and Silver Waterfall. It was so beautiful; I enjoyed walking the beautiful scenery. I could have stayed there forever just soaking in the beauty that God created. I just can’t wrap my head around the beauty I was seeing and God saying that I am more beautiful than all of it! WHAT!!! We are God’s masterpieces! WOW! Seriously, we are so loved!

The beautiful Love Waterfall. I could have stayed here all day!!

The next day we went and hiked another mountain to Heaven’s Gate and the Clouds. It was really pretty, just a lot of stairs LOL. But it was really pretty to go to the top and look out and see the town below and all the mountains. The world just seemed so peaceful and beautiful! I can’t wait to go back again!

God also provided some awesome opportunities to share Jesus with our administrative assistant. She had some great questions! I pray that God continues to soften her heart and provide more opportunities for us to share with her. I really feel like a part of the reason God called me here is to get to know our co-workers and share Jesus with them. There have been many opportunities for us to get close to co-workers and build relationships. I can’t wait to see these seeds start to grow!