I think it's IRIS' doing!
First birthdays, dol or doljanchi, are very important here in Korea. The baby has passed the most dangerous period of her life, and now we can fully accept her into our community, offer our blessings and begin to think about her future. Since Iris has passed half of her life here in Seoul, we decided that we should embrace some of the traditions of her new homeland. We dressed the children in hanbok, hired a photographer and a caterer, and invited everyone we knew to our home to help us celebrate this important life-stage of our baby girl. Above you may see many of our guests enjoying the festivities; below are some of the preparations for the event.
The dol and doljabi table were created for us by my friend Sun, who helped me with many of the preparations. On the dol table (dol-sang) you will find the following: Cooked white rice and noodles for wealth and longevity respectively; three kinds of rice cakes: coloured for harmony, white for purity (and tidiness!), and red to ward off evil and bring luck; green herbs (tied with red and blue string) for vitality and longevity and prosperity of descendants; dried dates as an extra call for prosperous descendants; and fresh seasonal fruit and artificial flowers (Sun made ours out of modeling clay) for beauty and bounty. The dol table, laden with all this symbolism, is mostly a display piece and for sitting behind and being photographed (Iris was very good at this - she really liked her princess role). More fun, perhaps, is the doljabi table.
The doljabi is the highlight of a first birthday party. An assortment of items are laid out and the child picks one or two that are supposed to foretell her future talents and profession. Many families today include on their tables things like golf balls, microphones, judge's hammers etc., but we stuck (mostly) to traditional items. On Iris' doljabi table there were: Calligraphy brush, ink block, ink stick and book all representing scholarship and academic pursuits; embroidery thread, thimble and pincushion to convey dexterity and versatile talents; brass coins for wealth; a horse-tile for leadership and authority; cotton thread for health and longevity, and we threw in a stethoscope just in case. Iris selected the calligraphy brush first (artistic scholarship?) and the embroidery thread second. I guess she will need to be versatile if she follows her parents path of study - I was really pushing the horse tile. You can see the slide show recap below (at the beginning I am explaining the table items - please ignore my strange faces, It's a curse).
Before the event we had all the guests pick what they thought Iris would chose, and put their name in the corresponding party hat. Afterwards we drew names from the lucky hat for some small gifts. You can see the ballot-hats below. The white boxes contain thank-you gifts: towels with Iris' name embroidered on them. We were told this was traditional, but I'm still not sure what our lovely friends want with such things. If anyone desires one, tell me - we have lots.
I did, for a moment, consider making the food myself - but it didn't last. For the first time in my life (no wedding remember) I hired caterers (and servers!) and it is my new favorite thing. I found an ad for Indian restaurant chain Chakraa in an open copy of the Korea Herald that was sitting on my desk as I was sending emails looking for a caterer. Turns out they cater, (and very reasonably) so we were set. They came with food, and tables, and tableware, and labels, and men to serve, and deliver drinks and tidy up. Everyone enjoyed the meal, and we got to chat and eat and play with our friends. It's a great way to have a party.
In addition to the caterers, also "under the command of IRIS" was Mr. Lee, a photographer (dollsnap.com; click on baby and Iris if you want to see more). With the help of Sun, and a little English, he managed to take over 900 pictures of my smiley baby and her birthday party. He gave us around 200 prints of varying sizes, a small album, two mounted photos and the CD of all 900+ pics. If anyone is looking for a photographer here in Seoul - he is very good. It is strange to have us in photos that look like magazine ads, and he was much more creative with his shots and lighting than I was expecting. I was less self-conscious than I thought; Iris was her usual incredible Iris self; and only Jamie needs to work on the smiling-on-command that is so crucial to the photo-shoot. It was pretty fun though, and I think we might try to convince him to do some outdoor family shots in future years. In two videos below, you can see Mr. Lee's attempt to have the family do his favourite poses of "family walking" and "airplane baby." Clearly it isn't so easy for the non-Korean babies to walk in hanbok and fly through the air, though on dollsnap you can see Korean babies pulling these poses off with flair.
"What exactly is IRIS?"
I was watching the popular Korean Drama IRIS as I was planning my daughter's first birthday, and as the event grew greater and grander I realized that indeed "IRIS' influence has spread far." Although perhaps not a force of chaos and destruction like her literary namesake, she is a powerful agent here in Seoul. She can, for example, compel her shy and reclusive parents to hold a giant party in her honour; and draw over 60 people, including international business leaders, diplomats, and a foreign ambassador to come and celebrate her first year here among us. Just how broad is her reach? We just don't know yet.
First birthdays, dol or doljanchi, are very important here in Korea. The baby has passed the most dangerous period of her life, and now we can fully accept her into our community, offer our blessings and begin to think about her future. Since Iris has passed half of her life here in Seoul, we decided that we should embrace some of the traditions of her new homeland. We dressed the children in hanbok, hired a photographer and a caterer, and invited everyone we knew to our home to help us celebrate this important life-stage of our baby girl. Above you may see many of our guests enjoying the festivities; below are some of the preparations for the event.
The dol and doljabi table were created for us by my friend Sun, who helped me with many of the preparations. On the dol table (dol-sang) you will find the following: Cooked white rice and noodles for wealth and longevity respectively; three kinds of rice cakes: coloured for harmony, white for purity (and tidiness!), and red to ward off evil and bring luck; green herbs (tied with red and blue string) for vitality and longevity and prosperity of descendants; dried dates as an extra call for prosperous descendants; and fresh seasonal fruit and artificial flowers (Sun made ours out of modeling clay) for beauty and bounty. The dol table, laden with all this symbolism, is mostly a display piece and for sitting behind and being photographed (Iris was very good at this - she really liked her princess role). More fun, perhaps, is the doljabi table.
The doljabi is the highlight of a first birthday party. An assortment of items are laid out and the child picks one or two that are supposed to foretell her future talents and profession. Many families today include on their tables things like golf balls, microphones, judge's hammers etc., but we stuck (mostly) to traditional items. On Iris' doljabi table there were: Calligraphy brush, ink block, ink stick and book all representing scholarship and academic pursuits; embroidery thread, thimble and pincushion to convey dexterity and versatile talents; brass coins for wealth; a horse-tile for leadership and authority; cotton thread for health and longevity, and we threw in a stethoscope just in case. Iris selected the calligraphy brush first (artistic scholarship?) and the embroidery thread second. I guess she will need to be versatile if she follows her parents path of study - I was really pushing the horse tile. You can see the slide show recap below (at the beginning I am explaining the table items - please ignore my strange faces, It's a curse).
Before the event we had all the guests pick what they thought Iris would chose, and put their name in the corresponding party hat. Afterwards we drew names from the lucky hat for some small gifts. You can see the ballot-hats below. The white boxes contain thank-you gifts: towels with Iris' name embroidered on them. We were told this was traditional, but I'm still not sure what our lovely friends want with such things. If anyone desires one, tell me - we have lots.
I did, for a moment, consider making the food myself - but it didn't last. For the first time in my life (no wedding remember) I hired caterers (and servers!) and it is my new favorite thing. I found an ad for Indian restaurant chain Chakraa in an open copy of the Korea Herald that was sitting on my desk as I was sending emails looking for a caterer. Turns out they cater, (and very reasonably) so we were set. They came with food, and tables, and tableware, and labels, and men to serve, and deliver drinks and tidy up. Everyone enjoyed the meal, and we got to chat and eat and play with our friends. It's a great way to have a party.
In addition to the caterers, also "under the command of IRIS" was Mr. Lee, a photographer (dollsnap.com; click on baby and Iris if you want to see more). With the help of Sun, and a little English, he managed to take over 900 pictures of my smiley baby and her birthday party. He gave us around 200 prints of varying sizes, a small album, two mounted photos and the CD of all 900+ pics. If anyone is looking for a photographer here in Seoul - he is very good. It is strange to have us in photos that look like magazine ads, and he was much more creative with his shots and lighting than I was expecting. I was less self-conscious than I thought; Iris was her usual incredible Iris self; and only Jamie needs to work on the smiling-on-command that is so crucial to the photo-shoot. It was pretty fun though, and I think we might try to convince him to do some outdoor family shots in future years. In two videos below, you can see Mr. Lee's attempt to have the family do his favourite poses of "family walking" and "airplane baby." Clearly it isn't so easy for the non-Korean babies to walk in hanbok and fly through the air, though on dollsnap you can see Korean babies pulling these poses off with flair.
"What exactly is IRIS?"
"IRIS is preparing to terrorize Seoul"
"It makes us more certain that IRIS is on the move"
And so my baby girl turned one year old, and was duly celebrated, blessed and embraced. We have loved having her in our lives this past year, and are looking forward to sharing her smiles and spirit and joie de vivre with many more nations in the years to come.
"This mysterious organization called IRIS - the more we find out about [her], the more we can be certain that [her] influence spreads far . . . how broad is [her] reach? we just don't know yet"
