SUPER GONGJU SUNDAY
For some people, this past Sunday was Superbowl Sunday.
For a select others, it was Super Gongju Sunday (gongju="princess"). Per Corean tradition, the first year birthday, called the 'dol,' is a big deal. You invite all the relatives and friends you can afford to feed and fit in your nearest Corean restaurant and make bets on who the last mean drunk standing is going to be.
In the picture above, you set out a bunch of items like a book, money, threads, a brush, rice. Whichever one the baby picks will determine his or her lot in life. But most babies pick up a whole bunch of things. Ooseung picked up the money because it is right in front of her face (yeah, real subtle MOM). Then she played with the rice because it offered more mess potential.
This is Sun Su getting ready to go to his sister's party. We attached balloons to him in advance so we could still see him running amidst the crowds and kitchen staff.
Amy's sister had the good timing of giving Sun Su a Blues Clues shirt right before the party, which Sun Su wouldn't leave home without. Matches the Hello Kitty suspenders nicely, don't you think?
She almost looks like a little Jackie O in that pink dress. Except smaller and a bit more frightened.
This is a beautiful one. Amy and baby Ooseung in their hanboks. Amy bought that Hello Kitty necklace on Ebay (or is it ebay) along with every other Hello Kitty item on Ebay ever. She had to cut herself off for a while.
Note the Hello Kitty cake decoration. Yes, it's a problem.
I'm only including this picture because my brother took it. Sober, I think. (I'm holding Sun Su in the picture.)
At this point, baby girl Ooseung realizes she doesn't have enough teeth yet to eat her own cake. And the Corean melodrama begins.
Everyone's getting bored with the pictures now and random ne'er-do-wells (the innocent looking nephew in the red sweater) are trying to get in on the action.
This was the little girl we were trying to set Sun Su up with before we moved last year (when I used to work at The Empire). Some of our old church friends came to our daughter's birthday from an hour away. I haven't really tried any other Corean churches since we moved. Partly because it's hard to find time ... and partly because I don't want to replace the old Corean church people I knew with new ones, if that makes sense. Even if I don't see them anymore. I never believed in God. I just liked the people who did. Some of them really liked me too.
... I miss them.
Even the moksahnim (pastor) from the church came up. Here he is putting The Fear Of God in our little daughter. Yeah, if you date before college, the Devil will eat your soul. Right on, moksahnim!
He was always genuinely nice too. When you are half-Corean like me, it seems like 50% of the Coreans you meet are genuinely nice, and 50% will snub you like dried cat shit. I'm not agonizing about it anymore. I'm always touched when I meet a Corean from the first group. I just don't expect it or even hope for it anymore.
I guess I quit two religions when I stopped going to Corean church.
I like this picture because it's the only shot I have of my Corean cousin from Brazil, Young, at the party (far left). When Young and his brother came to the U.S. three years ago and stayed with my mom, I was really excited to actually meet Corean cousins who were blood-related to me. But my mom got really paranoid and accused them (and their parents) of a lot of crazy things, breaking the last tie with the remaining branch of our Corean family tree. Later, my mom would tell me that they aren't even true relatives since their father was adopted. I don't know if that's true, but I don't really care.
I was afraid that when I saw my cousin again after so long, I'd become my usual aloof and distant self. But I didn't. Sometimes the heart overrides.
I also like that picture because it looks like Sun Su is showing his old friend how vast his new kingdom is.
After Ooseung's birthday party, a whole shit load of people came over to see our new house. It was a bit surreal considering it was my house.
Amy opened Ooseung's presents, announcing who gave what. It's the Corean way of peer-pressuring relatives not to be cheap asses lest you be publically shamed. Amy's wearing a Wonder Woman T-shirt by the way. And the Hello Kitty amulet of course.
Clothes and money. What a girl wants. Notice the only guy in the picture is trapped against the wall. Even Sun Su was sleeping.
The party kind of ended when Amy's dad had a little too much to drink and a little too much to say. It's good not to know too much Corean sometimes. Amy got pretty pissed off (at her father) and ended it as Confusciusly-correct as she could (by not singling out and embarrassing her father):
"Okay, everyone out! Thanks for the presents, now you all have to go! Bye!"
I actually tried half a shot of scotch (see my red cheeks). Or it could have been gasoline for all I know. At least I felt like I was on fire.
The rest of the night was spent with a bunch of guys (and my brother's girlfriend) talking about things that aren't worth remembering. Except the part when my trashed brother-in-law Broken Fist (or just Steve) said,
"If I'm going to pay that much for a drink, it better make my dick bigger."
It's hard to believe we were all innocent little babies at one time.
Happy Birthday Baby Ooseung-ee!!
... I just realized this is the second entry in a row with a picture of me at the end with a drunken face. I'm becoming an online lush.
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