My first Cambodian wedding.
Well, the wedding reception... turned out to be the whole shebang. Wedding and all. (The Khmer ceremony, anyway.) For those who don't know, Cindy's brother Punnarin married his longtime girlfriend, Charee. Cindy's family is Cambodian, and Charee is as white as... something white, so it was a nice mixture of culture shock and total unabashed cuteness. Very interesting for a gaijin. (I know that's Japanese. Shut up.)
Amanda picked me up at almost 11, and... the ride was rather uneventful. Her car is DINKY as hell, however. Cri-min-y.
Well, we found our way to Punnarin's house, and once we got there we realized there were about a hundred people outside and none of them were Cindy, so we were all freaked out because we had no clue what to do. Finally Punnavin came and told us that the wedding party was entering the house and whatnot. We were kinda wtf, so we waited until all the family and friends and people got inside, and then we tiptoed in. (The ritual is cool; the bride has to look out the window and decide whether or not she wants to let the wedding party in. I imagine it's probably a good idea to let the wedding party in, to avoid undue piss-offitude of the family. Still, it'd be kinda funny if the bride looked out the window, saw her fiance and his family and then told them to go home. "Bump dat, yo!")
We had no idea what the hell was going on, so we just stood around forever, confused white people all the way. Then, someone yelled at us to sit down on the floor, so we did. And it turned out, heyyy, the ceremony hadn't even STARTED yet! It was only 2 1/2 hours late. What it turned out was going on was that the families had to kinda announce that they intend to have their kids married and whatnot, and ask permission and stuff. Then, the old ladies had to bicker for an hour or so over the way the wedding party was dressed; I'm not sure if that's part of the ceremony or if that's just what happened, but it sure did. They had to redo the best man's belt about 340 times, so I hear.
So, first we sat around while Charee and Punnarin listened to some stuff and... some stuff... happened... and then they left. And then... some more stuff. Punnavy said that they were doing the hair-cutting ceremony, but in truth they were just changing for it.
Then, they came back, and they did the hair-cutting ceremony, which is strictly symbolic; they cut off a tiny piece of each others' hair (I think, it looked like the guy just kinda mimicked cutting, to me.) and then put it in some water and then read it to see how their marriage is going to go. I guess it's gonna go okay? Well, no one started screaming.
Then, they had to change AGAIN, and Cindy explained all the stuff to us. We also found time to stand around with plates and bowls of food; some noodle stuff with meat and chives, and some stew that you dunk bread in, and all kinds of fruit, and these weird banana leaves with bean stuff inside. I had the noddle stuff and a plum, which was nummoriffic.
Then, tada! Time for the hand-tying ceremony, which binds the two together. Charee and Punn had to lean over this sword while a bunch of people came and used this red thread to... well, tie their hands. Then, someone handed us some flowers and we had to pull out the petals, then when the hand-tying was over, we got to toss the petals all over them. IT WAS SO CUTE!!!!!!! I guess that was the equivalent of exchanging rings.. or something. Then, the wedding party left. None of us got to go with.
It turned out, they had to take the bride and groom into their bedroom, lie the sword down at the foot of the bed, and have the couple lie down in bed. Then, what happened was that the wedding party had to taunt the couple as they lay there, and TRADITIONALLY the man takes off his jacket and makes the wife fold it, but Punn didn't do that, saying "I do my OWN laundry!"
Well, a little later, they took a bunch of pictures and then we went into the backyard and sat around and kinda half-ate. I got another bowl of the stuff, but this time it wasn't as good. I'm not sure what happened.
Well, then... Koy showed us the house, and we sat in this room for awhile, yammering and stuff, and then Charee came in and Navy and Navin and some old lady helped her change into some pink dress to greet guests. God, so pretty... Charee is an absolute goddess in that dress. She was talking about how uncomfortable she was, but criminy, was she beautiful. She's really got this Jeri Ryan thing going. Very interesting. I was all blushing and stuff; I mean, here we are sitting in this room and the bride's changing clothes and stuff... but she didn't kick us out, so...
Actually... shit. EVERYONE was beautiful. The clothes are supposedly terribly uncomfortable, but god, how beautiful.
Then, we stood around outside, and Koy greeted guests... and Punn sang Happy Birthday to this little girl. So cute. He was truly getting down with his bad self, and the girl's just like, ".....", running away. Mean!
At some point we were informed that the caterers had come, so me and Amanda went to see what was afoot. There were 8 trays; one had stir-fry vegetables, chicken and shrimp, one had what I THOUGHT was chicken pieces, one had fried rice, and... actually, I think 4 of them had fried rice. I dunno. Pretty standard nummoriffic stuff.
I'm so xenophobic. I ate the fried rice because it was grubbin, and some of the vegetables, and then Koy's friend Gretchen showed up and she got food, and then I was informed that it wasn't chicken, but quail.
Funny thing, it tasted just... say it with me now, LIKE CHICKEN. Except there were tiny little bones that I kept accidentally eating, and they went crunch and everything, and then I got freaked out so I left my plate sitting on the pavement.
At that point, Amanda kinda looked at me and said "When do you want to go?" I said, I dunno. Any time. So she's like, "Let's go now." That was pretty funny. I always feel compelled to stick around even when nothing's happening, but she's just all, "Let's GO." We were dying of heat stroke and all that good shit, so... we decided to go.
So, we did.
On the way home, she put the top down on her car, and blasted Nickelback on the freeway... my first time in a convertible, and I was kinda scared, because THERE'S NO ROOF.
Well, I told Amanda I'd give her some money for gas, so we went to SA and I got an ice cream sandwich and a 64 oz pop, and she got some cookie dough ice cream bar and I gave her $3.44. Heh.
And, that's basically it. It was pretty fun, but I felt all awkward. I swear to god, people probably thought I was Amanda's mom or something. When I have makeup and conservative clothing on, I could fucken be 30. Pisses me off. =_=;
Amanda picked me up at almost 11, and... the ride was rather uneventful. Her car is DINKY as hell, however. Cri-min-y.
Well, we found our way to Punnarin's house, and once we got there we realized there were about a hundred people outside and none of them were Cindy, so we were all freaked out because we had no clue what to do. Finally Punnavin came and told us that the wedding party was entering the house and whatnot. We were kinda wtf, so we waited until all the family and friends and people got inside, and then we tiptoed in. (The ritual is cool; the bride has to look out the window and decide whether or not she wants to let the wedding party in. I imagine it's probably a good idea to let the wedding party in, to avoid undue piss-offitude of the family. Still, it'd be kinda funny if the bride looked out the window, saw her fiance and his family and then told them to go home. "Bump dat, yo!")
We had no idea what the hell was going on, so we just stood around forever, confused white people all the way. Then, someone yelled at us to sit down on the floor, so we did. And it turned out, heyyy, the ceremony hadn't even STARTED yet! It was only 2 1/2 hours late. What it turned out was going on was that the families had to kinda announce that they intend to have their kids married and whatnot, and ask permission and stuff. Then, the old ladies had to bicker for an hour or so over the way the wedding party was dressed; I'm not sure if that's part of the ceremony or if that's just what happened, but it sure did. They had to redo the best man's belt about 340 times, so I hear.
So, first we sat around while Charee and Punnarin listened to some stuff and... some stuff... happened... and then they left. And then... some more stuff. Punnavy said that they were doing the hair-cutting ceremony, but in truth they were just changing for it.
Then, they came back, and they did the hair-cutting ceremony, which is strictly symbolic; they cut off a tiny piece of each others' hair (I think, it looked like the guy just kinda mimicked cutting, to me.) and then put it in some water and then read it to see how their marriage is going to go. I guess it's gonna go okay? Well, no one started screaming.
Then, they had to change AGAIN, and Cindy explained all the stuff to us. We also found time to stand around with plates and bowls of food; some noodle stuff with meat and chives, and some stew that you dunk bread in, and all kinds of fruit, and these weird banana leaves with bean stuff inside. I had the noddle stuff and a plum, which was nummoriffic.
Then, tada! Time for the hand-tying ceremony, which binds the two together. Charee and Punn had to lean over this sword while a bunch of people came and used this red thread to... well, tie their hands. Then, someone handed us some flowers and we had to pull out the petals, then when the hand-tying was over, we got to toss the petals all over them. IT WAS SO CUTE!!!!!!! I guess that was the equivalent of exchanging rings.. or something. Then, the wedding party left. None of us got to go with.
It turned out, they had to take the bride and groom into their bedroom, lie the sword down at the foot of the bed, and have the couple lie down in bed. Then, what happened was that the wedding party had to taunt the couple as they lay there, and TRADITIONALLY the man takes off his jacket and makes the wife fold it, but Punn didn't do that, saying "I do my OWN laundry!"
Well, a little later, they took a bunch of pictures and then we went into the backyard and sat around and kinda half-ate. I got another bowl of the stuff, but this time it wasn't as good. I'm not sure what happened.
Well, then... Koy showed us the house, and we sat in this room for awhile, yammering and stuff, and then Charee came in and Navy and Navin and some old lady helped her change into some pink dress to greet guests. God, so pretty... Charee is an absolute goddess in that dress. She was talking about how uncomfortable she was, but criminy, was she beautiful. She's really got this Jeri Ryan thing going. Very interesting. I was all blushing and stuff; I mean, here we are sitting in this room and the bride's changing clothes and stuff... but she didn't kick us out, so...
Actually... shit. EVERYONE was beautiful. The clothes are supposedly terribly uncomfortable, but god, how beautiful.
Then, we stood around outside, and Koy greeted guests... and Punn sang Happy Birthday to this little girl. So cute. He was truly getting down with his bad self, and the girl's just like, ".....", running away. Mean!
At some point we were informed that the caterers had come, so me and Amanda went to see what was afoot. There were 8 trays; one had stir-fry vegetables, chicken and shrimp, one had what I THOUGHT was chicken pieces, one had fried rice, and... actually, I think 4 of them had fried rice. I dunno. Pretty standard nummoriffic stuff.
I'm so xenophobic. I ate the fried rice because it was grubbin, and some of the vegetables, and then Koy's friend Gretchen showed up and she got food, and then I was informed that it wasn't chicken, but quail.
Funny thing, it tasted just... say it with me now, LIKE CHICKEN. Except there were tiny little bones that I kept accidentally eating, and they went crunch and everything, and then I got freaked out so I left my plate sitting on the pavement.
At that point, Amanda kinda looked at me and said "When do you want to go?" I said, I dunno. Any time. So she's like, "Let's go now." That was pretty funny. I always feel compelled to stick around even when nothing's happening, but she's just all, "Let's GO." We were dying of heat stroke and all that good shit, so... we decided to go.
So, we did.
On the way home, she put the top down on her car, and blasted Nickelback on the freeway... my first time in a convertible, and I was kinda scared, because THERE'S NO ROOF.
Well, I told Amanda I'd give her some money for gas, so we went to SA and I got an ice cream sandwich and a 64 oz pop, and she got some cookie dough ice cream bar and I gave her $3.44. Heh.
And, that's basically it. It was pretty fun, but I felt all awkward. I swear to god, people probably thought I was Amanda's mom or something. When I have makeup and conservative clothing on, I could fucken be 30. Pisses me off. =_=;