Drinks all around!

So I proposed to Rachel last Sunday. 

Now many of you that know us are aware that we have been together a long time, and that it was only a matter of time before we got married.  I had the same thought.  Before I get into the whole story about the ring, the proposal, and so on and so forth, I would like to refer you, dear reader, to the FAQ section of the blog. 

No, we are not going to have a ceremony in Korea.

Yes, we are going to come back to the States for the wedding. 

No, we have no plans yet as to what, how, when, or other wedding arrangements. 

Yes, you are invited (I refer this to close to kith and kin and not you casual reader, sorry). 

Yes, congratulations are appreciated, but please do not send, post, or give anything until we get back to the States. 

No, we are not entertaining any questions about future offspring, and such questions will be met with snarky responses including but not limited to: references to cloning, crazy cat lady starter packs, or insisting on bizarre names (Example: Cuddles McKill Strike).  You have been warned. 

No, this is not a shotgun wedding. 

Yes, we will be keeping people posted as to details. 

That being said, what follows are some of the more amusing things that happened leading up to the proposal. 

After notifying a number of our closest family members, we learned that most of the people that we talked to weren’t too surprised that we are engaged.  Weird.  Well O.K. it isn’t that weird.  I had been thinking about it for a while.  I had, in point of fact, been squirreling away money for some time.

Now I had originally planned to pop the question, so to speak, at the start of the fall term of our school.  With the summer break upon us I decided that I had the means and opportunity to get the ring.  On the pretext of going for one of my long, long walks downtown, I went through Seoul’s massive street markets.  Insadong and Myeongdong are two such areas near downtown that offer a wide range of art pieces, knick knacks, and of course jewelry.  There being so much out there, it was difficult to find a place that was accommodating to the strange bald man looking at the expensive shiny things.

Several months back (nearly a year ago, thinking upon it now) Rachel’s Uncle Adam came to visit us.  One of the places that we went during his visit was Myeongdong market, and coincidently we went looking through a few jewelry stores.  Now this is not a small place that has one or two jewelry stands.  This is a massive place.  So, in all the gin joints in all the world, I ended up back at the same jewelry shop that Rachel, Adam, and I had gone to, except now I was looking at rings.  Now I wouldn’t say that the old woman and middle aged man behind the counter were uncomfortable when I was looking around, but for some inexplicable reason, the man’s English got 10 times better when he figured out that I was a serious customer.  What was amazing was how timid he was about quoting prices (you are having a thought… and the answer is not important), but this being something special, I told him several times that we could do better when he showed me the cheapest ones.  As I’ve mentioned before, jewelry made from precious metals here is sold based on the price of the metals and stones in question, so if the price of gold is very high, a piece of jewelry could cost more a week later.  Fortunately for me the price of gold was very low at the time. 

So I have the ring, which was the easy part.  Now how to give it?  After hiding it among the scarves and winter gloves in the closet (it is bloody hot here), I started plotting and planning how to deliver it.  It didn’t help the fact that I hinted that I was planning something, figuring that I could throw her off any possible missteps on my part by assuming an alternate agenda.  This was fortunate; because Rachel knew something was up and even suggested that it was for a proposal.  I masterfully deflected suspicion by offering an alternate explanation- that I was getting her a teddy bear.  This was in fact all part of the plan, as I did have a teddy bear, with the ring tied around its neck.   One of the problems with being on vacation is that you start looking for things to do and places to go.  So while I was biding my time with Frodo Bearington, most of the nice restaurants that I had thought of taking her to were being crossed off the list one by one.  After Saturday night I made the conclusion that I was just going to have to wrap it all up into a weeklong bow. 

So on Sunday afternoon, after getting something to eat in the Shinsegae department store, sitting down with some after lunch coffee, waiting for our seats for the new movie Snowpiercer, I gave Rachel the bear.  I felt a little amused as she didn’t notice the ring for several moments, instead choosing to hug the bear close, telling me how much she loved it.  All the while I was suggesting that she should look at the bow more closely. 

Well you can imagine her reaction. 

The rest of the day was filled with long conversations about who do we call, what sorts of things we should include in this blog, and so on and so forth. 

I suppose there are several things that this blog is announcing then.  Not just our engagement, but also the fact that we are planning on coming back to the United States by next year. 

Anywho, thank you all very much for reading through something that has very little to do with Seoul, Korea, or other more culturally germane things, but is of monumental importance to me. 

In closing, I think it appropriate to be somewhat sappy. 

I love you Rachel (soon to be Koehler).