Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I Love Korean Tradition



We recently went to a birthday party for a friend whose daughter turned 1. Since our friends happen to be Korean, it was a good opportunity for us to break out the girls' traditional Korean hanboks. It is a huge custom for celebrate a child's first birthday in Korea (traditional Koreans consider this day as their 2nd birthday...the first is when they are born).

The birthday celebration includes getting dressed up in traditional clothing, and choosing an item from a table, which represents their path through life (I guess). Articles to choose from include money, food, red thread, things relating to jobs... Our kids chose the cash! Since Lydia's parents are both physicians, it seemed natural she picked the stethoscope...one parent was pleased, the other not so much. I personally think she chose it out of default. It was close, and she couldn't get her feet moving because of her hanbok. Nonetheless, I love the tradition. We have beautiful hanbok's for the kids because of their foster parents in Seoul.

I also love the Guatemalan "tradition" we have instilled with Benny... the ol' pinata and stick! What does it have to do with Guatemala, you ask? Nothing...just our tradition, that's all.

It's nice to have family traditions, and suspect it will serve as an extra dab of glue, keeping our family in love with each other for years to come.

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