Eva's First Birthday Party

In Korea, the first birthday is like a wedding reception. We wanted to incorporate some Korean traditions, but not take out a second mortgage in the process so we just decided to do it at our house. We planned to keep it as a small, simple afternoon party. But neither of us really does small or simple very well. As we went back and forth on what we wanted to do, the time slipped away and we had to cram to get it together in less than a week.

The Invitations:


I cut off part of the invite for this post to remove personal details, but you get the idea. The missing part had a newborn picture of Eva. I did them on Pingg which is like Evite, but you can have paper versions mailed out as well (for a fee). I printed one for Eva's baby book. I wish they had more designs for using your own photos, but this one was fine. Pingg is free, but you can pay for access to more designs, to remove ads and to have paper versions printed. I used an online service because it cuts down on waste and it is just easier than trying to collect everyone's mailing address which is not as easy as the house number, street number and zipcode.

The Cake:

I decided to do cupcakes and borrowed Hello Cupcake: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make by Alan Richardson and Karen Tack from my friend. I do not have cake decorating experience or skill, but I do have vision. After looking through the book, my vision included 3-D chocolate butterflies. The first attempt was a disaster. I blame faulty equipment. The book says to use ziplock bags. My ziplock bags broke. To be fair, the book said to use freezer bags, but I only had regular ones. Just incase you are wondering, it does make a difference. Armed with stronger plastic bags, I made a second attempt which turned out much better than the first. I used Wilton's candy melts in cocoa and some Easter candy made of similar ingredients that I thought work work. The candy melts, melt quickly and set up quickly so they are easier to work with than real chocolate. The other candy didn't get quite liquid enough to make the design like in the book. But, the second attempt was much better. I think if I would have had the time and energy to do it three times, they would have been really good. Still, I was happy with the end result:





Sheet cake made with the unfortunate first batch. I got crumbs in the frosting and there was no fixing so I just went with it all over. Yes, I know it is sad.


The Decorations:


Photos from her first birthday shoot, tissue paper puffs from marthastewart.com, hand made party hat using a feather boa and fabric from some old pants that I got in LA years ago that always fall down, the infant carseat cover that I got for $3 at TJ Maxx on her high chair with another pink feather boa, the hanbok that the ladies from Curt's office chose for her, and a plastic table cloth from the PX (I wanted fabric but didn't have anything that worked and didn't have time to shop). The tissue pompoms were pretty easy to make. I didn't have sharp enough scissors to get a clean cut, but they still turned out well and had a lot of visual interest to the space.

Flowers from two different guests that coordinated perfectly:



Banner recycled from a good friend's daughter's first birthday:

You've got to love recycling! Anyone out there with a little girl turning one? I would be happy to pass it on!
The Food:
Curt did several kinds of chicken wings, had a cheese tray, fruit tray, veggie tray, shrimp platter. I made the ranch for the veggie tray and wings, a Mexican layer dip, and punch with an ice mold. The punch was made with cranberry juice, orange juice and pineapple juice. The ice mold had pineapple juice, pineapple chunks and mint leaves. I put champagne on the side to spike it up as desired. We also bought some pizza from the Navy Club. They cut it into appetizer sized pieces which really reduces the amount of waste and is an excellent idea for any party. As usual, Curt was afraid we wouldn't have enough food and as usual we had more than enough. We also had plenty of other beverages. We can have another party with the leftovers!

The Outfits:

Pink tafetta dress that I got on clearance from Hanna Andersson, Robeez that I picked up at the clothing swap the day before, party hat made by me, and "vintage" lace tights (my vintage that is, they were my tights when I was her age).
Hanbok:



The After Party Outfit (I couldn't find her sleeved bib so she got cake on her dress and had to change):


The Traditions and Traditional Gifts:
Curt's coworkers got her a 24K gold ring, which is a traditional gift.
It is very cool.
My friends, Mommy and Appa Cha, got her a gold necklace with her birth year sign, the Ox on it and her name engraved on the back in English and Korean.


Toljabee Ceremony
Items representing different professions or fortunes are set out and the item the child picks first is said to predict their future. We put out:
red thread=long life
bowl of rice=will be rich, will never be hungry
journal=scholarship
hard hat=engineering
Blackberry=management/technology
money=will be rich
paint brushes=artist


She sat for a long time without doing anything so we prompted her to pick something. Then, Mommy Cha said that Koreans aren't using rice anymore because it could mean laziness (After the party I found another source that said stupidity). As soon as she grabbed the rice:


The eating of the cake is the American tradition that everyone loves about the first birthday.



I had a strawberry stick holding up the #1. She delicately took it out of the cupcake and slowly, slooowly, ate it.

Then, she picked up the #1 and slowly, slooowly ate that:

Seriously, it was about 20 minutes. I kept leaving and coming back. She eventually did get into her cupcake and make a bit of a mess but, it was pretty mild.

We got her out, changed her and she went for her gifts, choosing the smallest one first and trying to open it with her mouth:


It was a wonderful day and we were so pleased with how everything went, except that I need to plan better next time and get invitations out a respectable distance ahead of the party!

Party photos by Chalica Pack. I'll post more shots (like the first picture) from Eva's official first birthday shoot with Chalica in another post.

Mosquitos in Korea

They are bad.


Ian's eye was even more swollen when it first happened. It didn't seem to bother him so we just waited for the swelling to go down on its own and didn't take him to the doctor. The mosquitos are biting their faces because the pajamas cover the rest of their bodies. Ian has a few others on his face as well that really swelled up. Eva doesn't seem to react as badly. We have something that plugs into the wall, but I think we need some mosquito nets.

We saw a little electrified racket for killing mosquitos. Supposedly you can picked them up for 7,000 won.

Bad Parent: My Two Year Old Has Road Rage

It is easy to have road rage in Korea. Imagine a place where everyone drives like a big (US) city cab driver, except the cab drivers because they are even worse and don't know the city as well as US cab drivers. Drivers are very selfish. Zippering is an unknown concept here, people drive up against the flow of traffic and push their way in. If there is plenty of room and you signal that you want to move over, they will speed up so you can't. People will cut you off inly to drive slowly so you miss the light. They don't miss the light because they will just run the light. Cabs will drive around traffic, going the wrong way to run a red light. They don't move out of the way for ambulances, though they managed to create a clear path during the fireworks so people could stop and watch them. After all that, they teach small children that they can just walk into traffic and hold up their hands and cars will stop for them. They also don't use carseats or seatbelts, much. One nice thing about Seoul is that they don't honk the horn. In Cairo, they honk constantly. It is much quieter.

In Cairo, lights are meaningless. People don't stop at all. It is worse there except that they don't get bent out of shape over minor accidents. Here, people will stop traffic and not move over for hours over an accident where you can't even see any damage. Also, in Cairo we had diplomatic immunity which we don't here. Here, you always pay, especially if you are a foreigner.

Anyway, it can be very annoying to drive here and Curt and I often yell at the other cars. Ian has started yelling at the cars too,"Car, get outta da way!" "Car, what are you doin?" He even did it (not in the car) in line at the check out counter, he yelled,"Dat lady's in da way!"

But, no swearing so we have made progress! Curt is much worse than me on the road rage issue and Ian has now started yelling at him,"Curt, calm down!"

They do listen to everything you say. Yes they do.

Mosquitos in Korea

1. They don't die.
2. They love Ian.

He has bites all over his face including his eyelid and ears. Annoying! He has bites on the his face on the Christmas card as well. It didn't show much on screen, but it does when it is printed. Oh well. It represents our time here I guess.

Ch'usok, Korean Thanksgiving Gift

We just received this as a Ch'usok gift from a Korean military officer who works with Curt.

Bronzed Baby Shoes? Not Exactly...

At the Baby Fair at CoEx Mall last week, I saw lots of elaborate baby photo packages that were the cost and quality of wedding albums in the States. There were also bronzed newborn montages:


I thought the bronze molds of hands and feet looked a little creepy. Here's a closeup:


And then I got a closer look at the boy version:


Yes, That is a mold of the baby's testicles and penis. On the wall, forever. Talk about embarrassing!

There is a picture in a photo shop in Itaewon of a male infant in Hanbok (traditional Korean dress) with his penis purposefully exposed. Much more direct than the"I'm a boy" onesies we have in the US!

Awesome New Friend!

I met my new friend, Sarah, for lunch today. Sarah came to Korea from Canada for a year-long teaching adventure and six years later she is still here, married to a Korean, writing English teaching materials and expecting baby #1. She is a great resource because she doesn't have a foreign government or company to rely on so she has to find things here. She is an expert online shopper and while you do need a Korean ID to shop online, you can have a Korean friend help you. There are great deals and usually free shipping online. I am really excited to here about a new line of Korean pocket diapers. Sarah found the company online, but says they have stores around. I can't wait to go shopping with her for the diapers, maternity and baby stuff!

Sarah is also a knitter. See here successfully-knit booties here. I have yet to successfully knit booties due to an increase-disaster. Luckily, I've met Sarah, so she can help me.

Another great thing about Sarah, is that she is having her baby here in Korea at a Korean hospital. Even though, I am pretty sure I am going back to the States, I am happy to know Sarah's experience to share on this blog for other expectant foreign mothers.

It is so important to get beyond your little group when you are in a foreign country. You learn so much from each group: military/government/Embassy; expats on business; English teachers and let's not forget the locals! It can be hard to get to know Koreans. Egyptians are extremely friendly, sometimes it can be too much! Koreans are shyer. Meeting through activity groups and foreign spouses of Koreans are good ways to break in.

Zen Kimchi.com

Another great food/expat site. I found Zen Kimchi while looking for help for the Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern researcher who I have been in contact with.

I just noticed on Zen Kimchi that the Seoul Players (expat theatre group) are hosting A Night of a Thousand Plays on October 11 and 18. They are looking for short (3 minutes of less), original works of theatre. No experience necessary. These short works will be given to volunteer teams to rehearse and perform. Maybe I will participate!

Here is the announcement:

Attention writers or aspiring writers!

Seoul Players will be holding its first ever production of “Night of a Thousand Plays” on October 11 and 18th. This unique theater event jams as many short pieces of original theater as possible into a one-hour program. We would love your involvement!

We are looking for as many written submissions as you can muster. The genre is wide-open, we only ask that your submissions be no longer than 3 minutes in length and the shorter the better!

Submit your pieces to seoulplayers@gmail.com by August 15th. Any writer with a selected piece for the show will be contacted and of course, credited for his or her piece.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and hope to see many of them in the show this October.

Yours in the arts,

Seoul Players

Night of a Thousand Plays - FAQs

What is it?
‘Night of a Thousand Plays’ is a theater event in which the audience can enjoy a heaped serving of short, original theater pieces in one night. Local writers submit short pieces from one line of dialogue or no dialogue at all to no more than 3 minutes in length. We like to call these “short shorts”. The focus is to stage as many “short shorts” as possible in our one-hour program. Local writers will submit their pieces and the best of the best will be chosen for use in the program. Teams of actors will be teamed up with a director to rehearse and perform 5 or so short shorts a-piece. The show will be held on October 11th and 18th with performances at 6pm and 8pm.

Who can be involved?
Anyone and everyone! First time writers, directors and actors are welcome along with seasoned veterans. Teams will be built around the casting needs of the short short pieces. The short short pieces will be bundled in a way to maximize stage time for each actor in a team. Also, anyone who is interested in the technical side of theater is welcome. In fact, to anyone who just wants to lend support, we can probably find something for you to do!

Is this like 24-Hour Theater?
Not really. For this event, each team is given weeks of rehearsal time to prepare their short short pieces. In that way, this show doesn’t have quite the frenzied approach of 24 Hour Theater, however, with the potential for so many short short pieces being staged and so many actors involved, the sense of community is still strong. It will be common to lend a hand to other teams from providing a prop to doing a voiceover during the show. If there’s any way that anyone can make the show better, we say do it!

What are the deadlines?
We will send emails and post announcements for submissions on July 15th with a deadline of August 15th. At the same time will ask for people who would like to be involved at any level (actor, writer, director, tech staff) to let us know. Pieces will be reviewed and final selections will be made by August 30th. In the beginning of September, emails will be sent to each participant confirming their involvement. We will hold a welcoming meeting on September 20th for all participants. The teams lead by the director will develop their own rehearsal schedule and pick up any props or costumes they think will be best for their pieces. We will have a required day of technical rehearsal on the morning of October 11th. Performance dates are October 11th and October 18th at 6pm and 8pm.

How will the teams be picked?
We will ask for any interested people to note their level of theater experience for any role they are interested in (actor, director, etc.). Every effort will be made to provide a mix of experiences in each team, but of course availability will also be a factor in determining teams.

Do I need experience?
No! We want any of you who even had a passing thought to do theater to get involved!

I’m nervous about auditions…
Don’t be, there are none! (See! This really IS for anybody!)

I’m interested in writing. What kind of pieces are you looking for?
Short ones! This is a great opportunity to try theatrical writing for the first time. Any genre is welcome. If you had a funny idea for a short scene or a great idea for a short dramatic one, go for it. From musical to movement only, we welcome any and all ideas. But be careful of length, if your idea lingers beyond 3 minutes it’s unlikely to make the show, but of course, some exceptions will be made. The best guidance we can give is to try to make one dramatic/comedic point in your piece. It is possible however to break a longer piece into a series of short shorts, but we’d like this to be the exception rather than the rule.

I’m not interested in writing. I want to perform/direct/stage hand instead. What do I do now?
Just wait! Once Seoul Players receives and selects the scripts, it will be time to select teams. An email for actors, directors and other help will be sent out in a few weeks from this email address. The number of performers needed will depend on the number of scripts received, so if you know of any wanna-be writers out there (including yourself), please feel free to pass on this email.

More questions? Feel free to email seoulplayers@gmail.com or call 010.2216.7267.

Seoul Eats

In my quest to help Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern with the Korea show, I found this great food blog called Seoul Eats. Check it out for interesting places to eat. They also take contributions so if you've eaten something great or strange or interesting in Seoul, take pictures and send in your article to Seoul Eats.

Seongye: Korean Meditation

I went to my first Seongye class this week. This is a Korean-style of meditation practice that involves preparing the body for meditation through physical exercises and Danjeon breathing. The exercises are a cross between yoga, Qigong, and calisthenics. It also involves slapping various points on the body to unblock them. Danjeon breathing is breathing from a point lower than abdominal breathing so you get a much deeper breathing experience.

There is a center in Insadong with classes everyday, several times a day and the opportunity to study to become an instructor.
The Arui Mind, Body & Spirit Center is near the Anguk subway station,exit #6.
For more information:
Tel: 02-733-0481
E-mail: nukeroar@suseonjae.org

Classes are about 15,000 won per class, less if you sign up for bigger blocks of classes.

I am going to start going in Itaewon at the Well Being Studio (near the Well Being Shop). Classes will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30-11:00am. If you are interested in the Itaewon classes, e-mail me or leave a comment and I will get you more info as it firms up.

Patbingsoo

Ian and I met my new friend, Dan-Bi at the Hyundai Department Store in Apgujeong (Apgujeong Station, Exit 6) for Patbingsoo. Patbingsoo is a delicious and refreshing dessert of rice milk over shaved ice with a sweet red bean sauce. We tried a classic version and one with additional fruits. There were also some hidden rice cakes in the mix. Ian really enjoyed it as well. He slept through lunch and woke up during Patbingsoo. After having a few bites, he realized he was hungry. I pulled out his snack bowl with the rice from lunch that I saved for him. He inhaled it and then starting screaming for more rice. Thankfully, Dan-Bi went next door back to the restaurant where we had lunch and they gave us more rice. He ate the whole thing and then excitedly exclaimed,"Found more rice!" as he picked it off his shirt. Hungry boy!

4th of July at Yongsan

Yongsan Garrison opened Gate 17 to the public and had booths set up with various activities, food, etc. The 8th Army Band Played and then the fireworks started. Ian needed to be right against me for most of the fireworks because of the noise. We almost skipped it because Curt and I weren't feeling well, but decided skipping the firework would be too lame so we did make it to see the band and the fireworks.

Pork Bulgogi

From the following recipe from the Seoul Survivor Guide 2007-2008:

Marinade
5 TBSP soy sauce
4 green onions, finely shredded
2 TBSP sake or dry white wine
3 TBSP sugar
3 large garlic cloves minced
dash of ground black pepper
2 TBSP sesame seeds
2 lbs thinly sliced pork or beef
1 TBSP sesame oil

Mix all the ingredients except the sesame seed oil. Add to sliced meat and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Add sesame oil just before grilling. Barbeque the meat slices over a charcoal grill or portable table top grill. Turn only once (thin slices cook quickly). A wok can be used if grill is not available. Serve over rice. We are using brown rice to make it healthier.

Koreans have propane table top grills. We used a grill plate that we bought here that goes over the burner on a stove. I used about half the sugar that the recipe calls for. We also added some spicy red bean paste as well.

Do Koreans Eat Dog?

Everyone was asking me that before we came to Korea, especially when we were talking about our dog, Roxxy. I really didn't know and you feel badly about asking because maybe it is just a racist rumor/myth that has been spread around, but, yet, you want to ask because you don't want to eat Fido without knowing.

In the in-processing brief, they told us that yes, Koreans do eat dog. It is considered a delicacy and they use a special breed of dogs that are raised for the purpose of being eaten. They do not serve dog to foreigners. I suppose if you really wanted to try it and could communicate that you knew what it was, you could try it, but I am not interested.

I will try just about anything, but I won't eat dog or cat.

We Dined on Cow Intestines

We went out to eat tonight and randomly picked the place. We walked in and there was no picture menu so we just told them to bring us whatever the other people were having. Turns out, that was cow intestines.

The tables were round with gas burners in the middle. They cooked the cow intestines with onions and radish and then brought it to the burner on the table to finish cooking, It was served with several sides of spicy greens and sesame oil with salt and pepper. The intestine was chewy and had a nice fatty flavor. It wasn't bad, but I don't feel the need to have it again. We also had miso soup with greens and crustaceans and rice with seaweed and spicy greens mixed in. Ian had plain rice and yogurt milk. It was an adventure for sure.

Again, we really need to learn to read.

Seoul vs. Cairo

1. Seoul is cleaner than Cairo. Both cities are very congested, but in Seoul the trash is handled much better.

2. The average person in Seoul does not speak English. In Cairo, the average person on the street speaks some English. It is amazing that even little kids who are selling things on the street speak some English and a few other languages. In Korea, if they don;t feel they speak English well, they won't try. In Egypt, they milk every phrase they know. So it is definitely easier to communicate for the newcomer in Egypt Korea. You can earn a lot of money teaching English here, I am told. I really need to learn to read Korean and speak survival Korean fast!

3. No tips in Korea except on post or "rounding up". People who do know English will stop and help you when you look confused and they don't want money for it. In Egypt, people are always scamming for money and asking for bakshesh.

4. No livestock in the streets of Seoul. At least I haven't seen any yet. In Cairo it was very common to see camels, donkeys and goats on busy city streets.

5. In Seoul, there is a lot of technology at all levels of society. The repairmen that have come to fix things at our apartment have PDAs where they take pictures of the work and we sign after it is done. In Cairo, while many people have cell phones, they often work with very primitive or improvised tools.

Recycling in Korea

There is mandatory and extensive recycling in Korea. You have to separate plastic, paper, glass, polystyrene, food waste, fabric and more. Everything that is not recyclable goes in government trash bags. It is very elaborate.

Our building even has a bin for batteries and light bulbs.

Almost a Real Person

You aren't a real person in Korea until you have a cell phone. I am currently surfing the web complements of my new cell phone provider waiting for my phone to activite. I am using LG service. All incoming calls and incoming text messages are free. Nice change from the States. I was able to choose my phone number. I picked my parents last 4 digits so it will be easy to remember. They have Mary J. Blige ring tones so that is what I am going to get since Ian loves her so much. You can also program an international calling card in your cell to call the States on and it doesn't take away from your cell minutes.

Ian is sleeping in his carseat/Go Go Kidz Travelmate.
That thing has been a real life saver. With the dog and all of our luggage, I couldn't deal with the stroller. And at 18 months, carrying is no longer the best option for medium to long trips so we have been wheeling him all around and putting him straight into the real estate agents' cars.

Mothering through Illness

Ian and I are both sick with colds, but I am much worse. He is not eating and wanting to nurse all the time. I am weak and wanting to be left alone. Curt is working so we are alone in the hotel room. I need to go see Roxxy at the kennel, but I don't know how far it is and am feeling to weak to venture out with Ian. I have a device to make the carseat into a stroller of sorts but the carseat is in the van that picked us up. I know I can't carry him that far and he isn't reliable about walking. I hope Curt comes back for lunch.

I have very limited patience and am struggling with that because Ian needs attention and cannot be expected to understand my situation. I hope to get better soon.

A Few Words

Hello= annyeoung haseyo
Goodbye= annyeoung-hi gaseyo (if you are leaving) annyeoung-hi gyeseyo (if you are staying)
Thank You= gamsa hamnida
Your Welcome= gwaenchan seumnida
Yes= ye/ne
No= aniyo