This weekend I had the chance to observe and participate in another different and new (to me) event in Korean culture: The 1st birthday.  Through church, Jane and myself had gotten to know a very kind and welcoming Korean couple, June and Sara.  One year ago they had their first baby, a girl named Hanna.  I remember seeing them shortly after their baby was born and I remember how happy they were.  Lucky for Jane and I, they invited us to their babies first birthday, which was on Saturday night.  When I first heard about the invitation, I remember thinking it a bit strange for them to invite us, who they don't know really well, to their child's birthday.  But that was before I realized how big of a deal first birthdays are here.  First Birthday's are such a big deal that they have their own name: Dol.
So on Saturday, another friendly couple picked us up and drove us to a large, special events hall in a remote place overlooking the bay and right away I knew I was underdressed.  I wore my corduroy pants and a nice sweater, thinking I'd look nice for the occasion.  But people at the party were decked out in full suits and wedding dresses.  June and Sara were wearing a very fancy matching outfits, which also matched their baby's attire, who hereself was in a fancy white dress. (She later was changed into a Hanbok, which I think is traditional for Korean babies on their first birthday).

- You have to realize that the last 1st birthday party I've been to was Ruth and Andrew Ippel's Henry's birthday in the living room of Harambee House in GR. Andrew and Ruth certainly weren't wearing a white dress, vest and bowtie, and Henry was probably mostly naked. (It was a great party though).
We were also treated to a wonderful buffet, lovely music, and all the guests were given a gift of their own (which just seemed backwards to my western way of thinking).
One part of the party, which I hear is traditional for Dols, was when the baby, Hanna, decided her future, or at least what she will become when she grows up.  A tray of toys was placed before her and she chose one.  Some of the toys were: a plastic stethoscope (doctor), a microphone (kpop star), a pencil (teacher), and a judges gavle (judge).  She chose the gavle.  (I wondered - where do you find a toy gavle? But I'm sure there are stores here which sell these kinds of toys just for 1st birthdays).  I find the whole idea of having your one-year-old decide her future by picking a toy very Korean - they start them early here.
I was also surprised by how quickly it went.  We were all in and out of there in 2 hours.  It seemed like so much planning went into such a short event.  But I guess 2 hours beats the 1 hour weddings that they have.
Overall, it was very cool to go to a Korean 1st birthday.  I'm happy and lucky to have Korean friends who invite me to such special events.
During the party, I was wondering about the reason 1st birthdays are such big events in Korea.  I thought that it must have something to do with the past, when, during tougher times, when Korea had less medicinal knowledge, many newborns would die from childhood diseases or because of Korea's seasonal temperature differences.  I looked it up later and I was right... exactly... word for word on Wikipedia... I'm genius.
It turns out, according to Wikipedia, Dols used to be even more extravegant and complex.

I also want to quickly mention something that seemingly has taken Korea by storm: Angry Birds.  You may know about it, but for the benefit of my parents and grandparents, who probably haven't heard about it, I'll explain. It's a video game for smart phones where you sling wingless birds at structures and evil green pigs to knock them down and retrieve the stolen eggs.  I don't know about North America, but it's huge here.  In some of my classes, I have to collect cell phones so my students don't play Angry Birds during class.  But it makes sense to me that anything having to do with cell phones is going to take off here.

Thanks for reading,
Michael