“She is a young lady with kind looks and also a nice personality. She graduated from a good college and currently has a solid job.”
As one of the event coordinators at the Korean-American Matchmaking Meeting presented a photo and profile of an attractive looking young lady, the eyes of about 80 attendees were focused on the PowerPoint screen. Some parents were taking notes, as their plan is to introduce the lady on the screen to their sons.
The introductions continued.
“Next up is a ‘husband-worthy’ man,” the presenter said. “Look at those muscles. He is a businessman but enjoys exercising. I’ve already met him. He has a strong intention to protect his family. He’s the sort of man who will be a family guy.”
Soon after, parents with daughters got busy. The sounds of their pens scribbling on the paper were loud and clear.
The Korean American Matchmaking Club recently marked its 100th event. The club was designed to arrange meetings between parents who were hoping to help their children to meet the love of their lives.
At the latest meeting on Aug. 24 was held at the club’s Buena Park office (6281 Beach Blvd., #98) in the conference room on the first floor. About 80 men and women were introduced to parents at the meeting. Parents even have the option of presenting their own children.
One of the mothers at the event was tearing up while introducing her daughter in front of other parents, as she explained how her daughter overcame a difficult life without a father.
The parents who attended the event created a list of men and women they were interested in, followed by directly speaking to their parents.
Then, there were parents who were quietly active.
“The most important thing is my daughter’s thoughts,” a man in his 60s said. “I’m going to show her some photos of the men introduced here. If she shows interest in any of them, I’m going to contact their parents and try to arrange a meeting.”
It is common to see parents who are concerned about helping their children to get married but seeing their desperation on display firsthand provided a whole new experience.
“I’d like to have a daughter-in-law who I can actually have a conversation with,” said another man in his 50s. “But it’s hard for my son to meet a Korean woman, so I decided to look for one myself. My son didn’t seem like he was opposed to it, so here I am.”
One of the mothers at the event said, “I’m really worried about my daughter missing out on her time to get married. What’s great about this meeting is that I can meet the parents of a man who could potentially be my son-in-law. Getting to meet the parents is a nice way to find out about the person who could eventually marry my daughter.”
The Korean-American Matchmaking Club began in 2006 in L.A. Last year, its office moved to Buena Park to mark the 10th year anniversary.
“About 90 percent of the members are parents,” said chairman Jung-gook Kim. “We currently have about 900 members. About 200 people were able to get married through our club.”
By Sanghwan Lim
