Hello 2011

It’s probably better to say that I’ve matured rather than admit that I’m now just plain boring. When I returned to Korea in 2006, I did this:

Here I am (behind the camera) downtown at Boshingak “bell pavilion” with a few good friends in a manic crowd of several hundred thousand, no doubt drunk, and secretly praying I don’t catch on fire.

Now fast forward 4 years to this New Year’s Eve. After eating at a (very crowded) shabu-shabu restaurant, we put Logan to bed, gobbled up a freshly baked apple crisp, cracked open a bottle of champagne (my first taste of alcohol in over a year) and watched “When Harry Met Sally”. Things certainly do change ~ *sigh*.

We had visitors on New Year’s Day. Clark’s parents, grandmother & aunt (on his mother’s side) came over with a ton of mandu “dumplings”. For those who haven’t read my Favourite Winter Food post, eating mandu is a New Year’s (both Solar & Lunar) tradition in Korea. According to popular superstition, a person does not become a year older until they’ve eaten mandu in some form or another; usually served in beef broth soup. Regardless of actual birthday, everyone turns a year older on January 1.

Does this look like a 2 year-old?

Koreans (and a few other East Asian countries, I think) count a person’s age differently from the rest of the world whereby a newborn is considered 1 year-old at the time of birth and each passing of a new year adds another year. Thus, Logan (who is 4 months-old) is now magically 2 years-old!

Logan with his Grandmother, Aunt, & Great-Grandmother



Happy 2011!