“Dol janchi” or in Hangeul: 돌잔치

Today I attended my friend, Haeyeun's grandson's first birthday. When a Korean child turns One, it's a big deal. Haeyeun gave her grandson the party.

He wore the traditional costume. This isn't a picture of Kolby, but Kolby did wear clothes like that. He wore yellow pants, socks and rubber shoes. His kimono was red and ornate and on top of his head was a cloth miter. That's right, like a bishop. I asked Haeyeun what the hat meant and she said longevity.

Placed in front of Kolby were four choices of presents: wealth, longevity, security, and wisdom. These were represented by wealth=fruit & grain, longevity=3 skeins of yarn, security=bow & arrow, wisdom=calligraphy pen & ink stone with rice paper. Kolby fingered the fruit but didn't pick it up. But when he stuck his finger in the yarn he lifted the entire skein. We considered that the choice. Kolby will have longevity.

Another Korean custom, was given by Changhun. Changhun gave Kolby a 24 karat baby ring. Gold rings are the customary Korean birthday gift. But because gold is expensive, people give ordinary gifts, just like in the USA. So the gold ring was a pleasant, and much cherished surprise. The gold ring represents health, wealth, and prosperity. Kolby will always have it to sell if he needs money. It's insurance for the future. Hopefully, he never will.

Finally, Kolby's Dad read the Birthday Declaration, where Kolby promised to be a good son and make his parents proud. He will always honor them and take care of them. Then Kolby put his hand on the Declaration which represented his signature. We at the Birthday party were witnesses.

Good health and fortune, Kolby!
May God bless you, always.

Attacks on the Church

Kim Yu-na is standing next to Cardinal Cheong Jin-suk in this picture from Rok Drop, the blog about Korea. It's a nice picture accompanied by not so nice comments. The comments saddened me. Instead of honoring Kim Yu-na, the comments were focused on the priest. And His Eminence did nothing to deserve any disrespect. The ridicule was on the church. One commentator asked if the Cardinal had abused her yet. One response was that she was a girl--not a boy. When another commentator suggested that the comments were out of line. The retort was simply, "It's a valid question."

This reminded me of exactly what's happened with Pope Benedict. Of all people, who have worked tirelessly to rid the church of permissiveness of all kinds and at all levels!

Since BXVI has taken office, he has been taken to task: at Regensburg for being an enemy of Islam, forced to cancel a talk at La Sapienza, criticized for reconciliation with Lefebvrists, and TAC, and dialogged with Constantinople, and now accused of covering up the scandals of priests sexually abusing children. Is he going to be blamed for the weather, next?

Would I be accused of paranoia if I expressed a conspiracy to discredit the Church? You do have to wonder. Who benefits from disgracing the Church? Whatever, or whoever it is, comes under the general noun "Satan." Whatever and whoever benefits, does not have the best interests of humankind in mind. That's evil; that's Satan.

Do you know the pray to St. Michael, the Archangel?
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What in a Name?

I'm having the "dickens" of a time trying to name a group I'm giving. I've been asked to help an adult Korean male with his English. I'm thinking of having some friends and this "student" come over for tea.

The "teas" will provide a stage for learning how to present ourselves (student) better. We will all benefit from it, but for us, participation is voluntary; it will be mandatory for the student. The atmosphere will be friendly and informal. The talks will be to help the student communicate better.

We'll discuss whatever: current events, problems and how best to deal with them, etc. The idea is to help this young man improve his English. He's 29, a graduate student and a professional person. All he needs is language skills.

After about an hour, we'll evaluate how we presented ourselves and especially the student. It will be a discussion evaluation.

I can't call this a "class," or "workshop", or "seminar." How about "circle," "forum," or "group?" MMmmmmm, Korean/American Tea---KAT?

What?