One Time I Accidentally Went to a Korean Funeral

So the title of this post kind of says it all.  I did this.  I accidentally went to a Korean funeral.  It happens, you guys.  "But Taleen, how?", you say to yourself because I'm not right there in the room with you.  Ok, I will tell you.  Because I know the curiosity is basically killing you right now.

Last January my Grandpa Jerry passed away and due to me being out of the country at the time, I was not able to go home for his funeral.  That was difficult, most especially because I was on a plane during the actual funeral, but I took comfort in having been with my super awesome best friend when I heard the news.

In order to take myself through the grief process after his death, I began attending daily mass.  Nothing special or out of the ordinary, just daily mass.  After a while I became a regular face at mass and my priest knew that I would be attending every day.  So on a Thursday evening I wasn't overly surprised when I got a text message telling me that mass would be earlier on Friday due to a funeral.

Well, at least that's what I thought it said.  Even though the message was in English it wasn't perfect English but that was fine!  I knew the new mass time and there were no issues.

Until I got to mass.

When I arrived at church the next morning I immediately knew things were not exactly as I had imagined.  An older male parishioner was wearing a suit and directed me to the main church instead of the chapel that we usually have mass in.  I went inside and saw that the entire right side of the church was packed with Korean grandmothers, also daily mass goers, all wearing black but that the left side was nearly empty.  A further glance to notice a metal cart pretty much confirmed what I had suspected at the beginning.  This was the actual funeral.

Two things started running through my head at this point.  1) Oh my gosh how did I end up in a place in life where I accidentally came to a stranger's funeral and 2) if I am going to see the body I might freak out.  Good news!  I didn't see the body, just a coffin.  And I think my confusion over number 1 is that at my home parish in Iowa, if there is a funeral it's just extra work for the priest.  But apparently in Korea my priest is a bit more efficient.

So what is a Korean funeral like?  Well, this one was just like any other Catholic funeral I've been to.  Everyone did wear black, although not necessarily fancy black.  Older adults wore dresses and suits but younger people wore black jeans, sneakers, puffy coats, anything.  Just as long as it was black.  I of course did not.  I had worn my bright red winter coat and looked massively disrespectful.  Naturally.

Aside from the all-black attire the other difference was that the family had a bus and I a little bit suspect the body was on there, too.  At least, I didn't see another vehicle that looked like it could fit a coffin.  I think the bus is actually a great idea because it's efficient and everyone is going to the same place anyways, but I think I still like the idea of a hearse for the coffin.  It's like your last car ride ever and the last thing you want to be doing is sharing a bus with everyone.

Any questions about Korean funerals or death experiences?  Do you think a funeral bus would take off in the States?  Should I invest in that?