Friday, April 18, 2008

Maedeup - The Latest



I finished up this knot which is a combination of many maedeups. It was fun to do but pretty time consuming.



This was the teacher's example of what we were to do in class. Working in the thinner diameter cording is so difficult.



This is what we were to make and it took the entire five hours for me to complete it. Pretty cool.

A fellow student had a baby a few months ago and she stopped in to say hello to our class. I kept asking where the baby was and my Korean girlfriends thought I was hilarious. Apparently, in Korea, a baby is not allowed outside except for doctor appointments until they are 100 days old. I wanted to see the baby!

I also found out some interesting customs that made me wish I had my babies in Korea. After birth, the mother's bones are so weak and loose that she is not even allowed to hold the baby. My girlfriends told me that the joints of a Korean woman actually separate and become very loose. Usually your mother or mother-in-law stays with you for three months until you recover your strength. All you have to worry about is feeding the baby (if you choose to breastfeed) and the baby is brought to you and gaining your strength back. No housework, no cooking, no cleaning, no nothing. You have to eat seaweed soup every day which will also help you to recover.

If you haven't a family member to take care of you during this time, the government provides live in help to provide this service.

Korean women also cannot carry a baby on their hip like we Americans do. I need to get a picture of this but Korean women carry their children on the small of their backs. It looks painful to me and I've seen a few times where I thought the child was going to fall out. They are tie with a blanket or store bought baby back carrier.

5 comments:

Helena said...

That does look complicated! Beautiful!

I remember one particular mother standing in front of me on the bus once, with her baby tied on her back, and the child seriously looked like he was falling out. I think he was asleep, though, so I guess it was comfortable enough!

missiy said...

Hey that is a very interesting fact. In my culture, (I'm Hmong) after birth we do the same thing except it's only one month long. No work either! But we can hold our baby as long as we want though. Bad thing is we're forced on a strict chicken diet because the Hmong believe that the women have to cleanse their bodies by eating chicken, chicken soup and rice.

Ron said...

Becky, that knot is absolutely beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing.

-Ron

CreekHiker / HollysFolly said...

Becky, Your work is amazing. I think this culture needs to treat new mothers with more respect...here they drop the baby and run back to work. UGH!

Spoke to my art bud in Tenn. today (from Carol)...she asked about you.


Miss You!

Becky said...

Helena; Thank you. I know what you mean. I haven't seen a child fall out but I've wanted to intercept many times.

Mississy: Very interesting. I came home to a ton of laundry. Oh well.

Ron: Kamsanmida! (thank you in Korean)

Holly:I agree 100% and maybe we will change someday. Don't bring up the Carol days. I miss them so much and you too!!!

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