Yeo Jung's 1st Birthday Party

Yeo Jung in her adorable hanbok.



Yeo Jung with Mom and Dad. I had to miss this party because of maedeup class but Curt (hubby) filled in for me and took some great pictures. They had a buffet and Curt said it was delicious.

Grandpa and Grandma too!

The whole family worn matching hanboks.


Curt found this table set up with beautiful pictures of the family.

Daddy saying a few words about his little girl.

What will she choose? The bowl of rice, the money, the microphone...

Here she goes.

Yeo Jung chose the golf ball. I'm not sure if it means she will be a golfer or into sports.




Grandma saying a few words.

And a few words from the other Grandma.

Every guest went home with a towel, embroidered with Yeo Jung's name and her birth date.

I really didn't want to miss this party but with maedeup class being more regimented, it is really hard to miss a class. We cover a lot of ground during those five hours of class. The more complicated the knots, the more time is needed to practice and master the knots.

I made it through my first week of yoga. I cannot believe how sore I am but it was nice to have the weekend to rest. I'm learning how to count in Korean (we do a lot of counting with the exercises) and I can get up to four and then have to revert back to English. The class was really shocked the first time I did it. I'm working on being able to count all the way up to ten.

What Kind of Present to Bring to a Korean 1st Birthday Party

I left out an important concern when attending a Korean 1st birthday party which is the gift. Of course, being a crafty and polymer clay girl, I had to make the baby one of my polymer clay babies. The baby is holding a golden pig because Hye-In was born in the very lucky and rare year of the golden pig.

I had to ask my Korean girlfriends what was an appropriate gift along with the polymer clay baby. They told me that until recently, guests would bring a tiny gold ring for the baby. The parents would either cash the rings in for money right away or put them away to cash in later to help pay for college. But nowadays, money is what is predominately given and the amount is 50,000 won ($50.00 U.S.) or more. They also said that Koreans love to dress their children in Ralph Lauren which is very expensive here in South Korea.

Korean First Birthday Party

A first birthday is a very significant event here in South Korea. In recent history (as of 50 years ago), the mortality rate for children was high and many did not survive to see their first birthday. So a first birthday is an important milestone to the Koreans and a reason to celebrate and celebrate big. We felt very honored to attend the first birthday party of one of Curt's (hubby) co-workers.

The celebration is usually held in a banquet hall and often in the same hall where the wedding reception was held. Koreans feel that this is a good time to reconnect with the married couple. The invitation said that the party was from 6:30 pm until 8:30 pm but we were told to come at 7:00 pm. We arrived and were quickly welcomed by the father and ushered to the buffet. The food was fantastic and they was so much to choose from. The photo above shows the mother and baby in the traditional Hanbok.



Little Hye-In didn't want to leave mommy.



She was such a cutie and quite the trooper with everything that was going on.


Picture with all of the co-workers.


Another picture with some of the co-workers.


Family pictures. Everyone say "KIMCHI!"


Daddy talking about his little girl.


Cutting the birthday cake with the largest knife I've ever seen. I thought it was a sword.


It is traditional that the child is presented with a tray of assorted items and the child picks one out and it will foretell their future. On this tray there was:
Microphone - she'll be a singer
Money - she will be wealthy
String - for long life
Computer mouse - she'll be a computer major
Pencil - she'll be a scholar
Bowl of rice - she'll have her needs met (food, shelter...)


After some time of contemplating, Hye-In chose the microphone. She'll be a singer.


I got to hold the baby! She was ready for bed and very tired.

They also had some door prizes and everyone had a number given to them as they entered the party. I was sitting with the family (that's where they put us) and family member's numbers were constantly drawn. Dad wasn't giving any prizes to family members so when it happened again, they threw the number at me and everyone said I won. They really wanted me to win, so up I went to collect my prize. It was a rice spoon and stirring spoon, both with spoon rests.

Everyone also went home with a parting gift. It was this towel with the baby's name and birthdate on it. We had a blast and it was all over by 8:15 pm.

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