The funeral process was long, and so I'm going to deliver the description in a series of entries -- sort of postcards from the grave, as it were -- rather than haul out a single entry that would be several pages long.

First, though, a few Korea-related items of interest.

On Sunday, KBS showed last year's World Cup game in which Korea defeated Argentina, paving the way to a fourth place showing. That was such a huge deal to Koreans. HUGE! From what I've seen, if there's one thing that Koreans as a nation want more than anything else, it's respect. Koreans are extremely nationalistic, and accompanying that is a sense of insecurity about their place in the world. Justifiable proud of their economic success within 50 years of a devastating war fought on their land, Koreans were humiliated by the 1997 IMF crisis. Hosting the World Cup and then doing that well -- well, you don't have to pop psychoanalyze what that meant to people.

Guus Hiddink, the Dutch soccer coach who took the Korean team to fourth place last year, is on par with the Pope (or would be, if this were a Catholic country). There are currently commercials for a bank (or is it an insurance company?) that feature Guus. One of them takes place on a rainy soccer field. Guus is yelling "Pali, pali!" (quickly, quickly!) to a soccer player, who falls hard in the pouring rain. A moment later, he is pulled up by the bear-like Guus, who wraps his own coat around the player and walks off with him to the sweet strains of Journey: "And now I come to yoouuuu, with ooooopen, arrrrms, Nowhere to hide, believe what I say..." Aww.

Another commercial features Guus preparing a birthday dinner for a soccer player, who opens his front door and is astonished to see Guus in the middle of putting down a birthday cake on the table. The player weeps. Guus hugs. Aww.
--------------------
On a frivolous fashion note: Korean women paint their big toes but leave their other toes unpainted. Same with their hands. I asked someone this weekend why, and she said that painting all the toenails would be, well, just not very nice.

Beats me.
-------------------
Funeral
Part 1: Flowers and Cash

The flowers are 8 feet tall.

No, not the flowers, themselves, the flower arrangements. Bamboo tripods support a long spine of planters' Styrofoam, which sport fan-like palm leaves as a background to three kinds of white flowers: chrysanthemums, lilies and roses. A large black and white gift bow adorns the top, and two white strips of fabric hang down, with the name of the donor (usually companies or churches) on the left one and the customary "condolences" (in Chinese characters) on the right.

There are 11 total, and they tower above the visitors in the hallway outside our two rooms. My brother asked if I'd buy a large flower arrangement for the funeral on behalf of him and his wife, but upon viewing these arrangements, I agreed with my dad: nothing says love like cash. Everyone who came dropped an envelope into a box built into the reception desk for that purpose. There were even envelopes for you if you didn't have the foresight to bring your own.

I told my cousins and then my aunt that my brother had sent his regards, and then dropped the envelope into the box.

Tomorrow: The basics; more proof that Koreans are the Irish of Asia; and an experience that makes me vow to be more polite to restaurant staff.