Korean 1st Birthday

I just went to my nephew's first birthday party, so I thought I would write about his party... but... it was a disappointment.. not much to talk about and so I decided to write about Chloe's 1st birthday party. I actually can't believe that it has already been 8 months since her b-day party. Time really flies by so quickly.

My sister and Chloe

In Korea, 1st birthdays are celebrated quite big way. Of course it's the same for every country I guess. In the old times, Koreans made this 1st birthday celebration a big deal since in those days baby's survival rate was quite low. Back then, they also celebrated the 100th day of the baby but not such a big deal in modern days.

The 1st birthday in Korean is "Dol", and the celebration is "Doljanchi". Usually the babies wear Korean traditional "Hanbok" and sometimes the parents do the same too. The "Doljanchi" is held mostly in banquet halls or restaurants. Inviting relatives and friends to join in celebrating. The main event of the "Doljanchi" is "Doljabi". "Doljabi" is an event where the baby is propped in front of a table that has various objects, and each objects has its meanings and "determine" the babies future. It differs in each party but for Chloe's it was money, a bundle of thread, mic, pencil, and rice grain. Money means the baby will be rich, thread- a long life, mic- be successful in field relating to mic such as anchor, host, etc, pencil - a scholar, and rice grain - the baby will never starve. In most cases, since mic's big and colorful (they use the toy mic), most of the babies picks up mic and so did Chloe. :D

Me and Chloe

The party was held on Oct. 24, 2009. The place was decorated in pink since it was the birthday of a baby girl :P. And since she was born on the year of the mouse, there were mickey mouse and minnie mouse balloons (though not shown on any pix). It was a buffet so can't remember all the food, we had about 50 guests, mostly relatives and dad's co-workers and my sister's few friends. We actually didn't want to make it bigger since mom wasn't doing so good. She barely made it to the party and couldn't stay long. My sister and Chloe wore the same "Hanbok" style which was really cute. Unfortunately, Chloe's dad couldn't come.

In most celebrations, Koreans give money as gift. SO we didn't receive any other gift but cash. Which is good, it helps paying the bill for the party. :D And for souvenirs to the guest, we gave out towels with Chloe's name and the date of the celebration.

For me and my family, it wasn't so enjoyable because of my mom's condition. But we are glad that we gave Chloe this party because my mom got to see her granddaughter's Dol before she passed away.