................Taking Flight...............: Jimin's First Birthday

This morning Jihye was up early starting on preparing food for Jimin's birthday party. She made me kimbap, mandu soup and kimchi. A wonderful breakfast. When Jimin woke up, Jihye said my duty was to play with Jimin and keep her entertained. Not a problem at all. :)

Toward late morning, Jihye said she wouldn't be able to go with me to the hair salon anymore because she had a lot to prepare. So I went off on my own. The woman was expecting me, as Jihye had talked with her earlier in the week. She said she kind of recognized me from over a year ago-come to think of it, probably 2 years now. Anyway, I showed her some pictures of how my hair looked after she had done it before and she first layered my hair and then set about to perming it. She actually cut off a little bit more than I was wanting, but hopefully once it relaxes a little bit, it will look a little longer. The whole thing took almost 2 hours and she was very nice. She also gave me a bit of a discount because I had been there twice before.

I returned to Jihye's with my new-do. She bundled up Jimin and we went to go visit two of Jihye's friends to deliver ddeok (rice cakes). It is customary to give ddeok for a baby's first birthday and it means they will have good luck. First we went to one of her friends' place. Her friend is in her 40's and she has a 30 month and a one year old. We chatted with her husband and played with the 30 month old for about an hour. Then we took off to the next house. The old married couple who answered the door were very sweet. The woman used to teach in the IIIHR program (language program I did in 2011). Both she and her husband speak English very well. They recently became Catholics because they liked Pope Francis so much. It was interesting to talk with them and we stayed for about an hour here as well.

Then we headed back and prepared for the party. Jihye and her husband finished cleaning and making food. Again, my duty was to tend to Jimin and play with her. Tough job for sure! First Jihye's parent-in-laws arrived and her brother-in-law. Next came her brother and sister-in-law and their 8 month old baby as well as her parents. It was hard for me to communicate with them so I was pretty quiet for most of the time. We did a little tradition where the baby picks an item and it shows what he or she will become or do in their life. There are set ones like pen, money, farming tool, mic; but Jihye asked me to help create a few jobs. I took one of her lipsticks and said it could be model or something with fashion. I also put a cellphone in for something with technology or engineer. Well, Jimin picked the lipstick! She then proceeded to pick the pen and the little rake too. A model-teacher-farmer! We sang happy birthday to her and "she" blew out the candle. Then it was time to eat. I sat at a table with just Jihye's brother-in-law. Sometimes she and her husband sat down and ate with us, but mostly they were moving around and serving and attending to the parents and babies.

At 7:30 Jihye called a taxi for me and she, her husband and Jimin walked me out. It was sad to go because I know this is one of the last times I will get to see her in Korea. She was so kind and paid for my taxi. Jihye's husband apologized that he couldn't drive me there.

I arrived early at the train station and waited a little bit. Boarded the train and had a 3 hour ride back. I was going to take a taxi home, but when I went outside, I realized the buses were still running. Right when I got to the stop, the bus I needed pulled up. Perfect. I saved about 9,000W. And arrived home around midnight. Exhausting day, but so worth it!