My First Wedding

The first day on the cruise was a memorable one. I got married… How could somebody forget their first wedding? We took an off shore excursion. I forget what the name of it, but it was really nice. We saw monkeys and waterfalls and it was just overall a very scenic walk lead by our amazing tour guide Vera. On our way back, we stopped for a show in which they were demonstrating a traditional Chinese wedding. They threw a bouquet out into the audience and I caught it. I didn’t know by catching the bouquet that I was volunteering myself to be married (somehow that got lost in translation). I went up and got all dressed up and then went through the formal wedding ceremony. They would sing a line of a song and then I would say a couple words back to them and they would sing the next line. After, we took a shot of some very strong baizou (or however you spell it). That caught me off guard a little bit… I thought it was going to be water. Then we went up to the room for our fake kiss, but it looked real to everyone else. Then I learned that by getting married, I was unable to leave the country for three years. The video of the whole event is hilarious.

The cruise was one of the best parts of this trip. Even though it was mostly a cruise for old people and their grandchildren, we had a great time.

Ryan Gleason