Last night, I was able to be in Hong Kong (virtually speaking) for the baptism of my beautiful God-daughter, Cally Jane. Joe and Norbyah asked Dave and I to sponsor Cally just after she was born in February. I didn't think, at that time, that we'd be able to be a part of Cally's baptism. I figured that Norbyah would ask some friends to stand in for Dave and I as her sister and brother-in-law did for Ella's Godparents when she was baptized in Hong Kong a few years ago...
The original idea was for Cally to be baptized on the beach in Stanley. But plans changed, and Joey thought of having the baptism at their new home, so that we and his parents in Illinois could attend, over Skype!
It was a fantastic idea and, although our connection was a bit choppy, it worked wonderfully. The baptism would have been perfect if: 1.) I would have been able to hold Cally with my own two arms and 2.) I would have been able to hug my dear friend, her mama. I'll have to wait for next summer to do both...
(Connecting with Joey and getting ready for the baptism,
with a 13 hour time difference.)
(I love this photo, because Norbyah is looking at her computer, and therefore me, sitting on her coffee table. We were both a little teary at this point...)
(Janet's singing bowl served it's purpose beautifully!)
(I love this family!)
Clearly, a fantastic start to our Chuseok weekend!
This morning, the five of us ventured out to the Korean Presbyterian Church to celebrate the Korean holiday with our fellow Families through Korean Adoption and the church community.
There was an incredible turnout for a morning full of Korean Folk Games followed by a traditional Chuseok meal, and Korean drumming. Lunch was incredible, complete with japchae, bulgogi, bibimbap, kimchi, and kimbap. I hate to admit that this was Dave's first Korean meal (I haven't tried my hand at making our own, yet...) and he was in heaven... or, nearly. He thought a flat screen broadcasting the Badgers vs. Gophers game might have pushed him over the edge.
The bigger boys had a blast with all of the Folk Games. Emmett was actually quite lucky, especially while playing yut-nori. Dave considered whisking him off to Vegas to see if we could hit the jackpot...
(Yut-nori)
(Tuho)
(Mugungwha kkochi pi-osmnida, which was my favorite of the games.)
(Jaekee chagee. Think hacky sack.)
(And calligraphy! Rubin's name, written in Hangul, on his page!)
Rubin was interested in all of the games, but he wanted to play them his way. Unfortunately, we never made it to the Knee bumping activity. I think that one might have been a favorite for our entire family! I noticed tonight that my friend Yvonne took in some of the activities what we weren't able to see, and blogged about them beautifully. Check out her account of the festivities here and the rest of my photos on my flickr page.
I loved seeing everyone from our FTKA group again. I know how incredibly fortunate we are, to have this community of friends. I love how they've welcomed and continue to support us. All of us. Sadly, we've been in some situations with other families through adoption that have been less than inclusive for Theo and Emmett. Simply stated, our FTKA rocks.
Chuseok Highlights: Seeing Miya and company for the first time since David left for Korea, meeting Yvonne and Paul's newest addition Daniel, discovering that Dena and Brad live here (it seems I was the last to know!!), and the food!!!!
Lowlights: Running quickly while admiring a balloon too close to the top of a staircase meant that our morning ended poorly for Emmett.
Ouch.
9 comments:
what a bruiser he is. an awfully cute bruiser.
It was great to meet you guys today. We thoroughly enjoyed the Chuseok celebration and meeting everyone.
On another note, that's awesome you were able to attend your goddaughter's baptism virtually. We did something similar at my sister's wedding in August -- My cousin attended via Skype from India. She even got dressed up for the occasion and "mingled" at the reception as her brother carried around the laptop. Skype rocks!!
Sounds like a wonderful Chuseok! It's so nice to have a community like that.
And I have to say how modern to attend a baptism via skype. I love technology )
ouch! Cushla would like to send Emmett a 'wiggles' band-aid.
So many thoughts... let's see if I can remember everything.
I love Skype! That's awesome that you were able to attend an event halfway around the world because of it. Spencer met our families via Skype... it was our "Spencer, Live from Korea!" morning.
Your Chuseok celebration looks amazing! I'm jealous. Extremely. We might try to hunt down something similar next year. This year we were just simply too tired and too sick.
And, asked with a pit in my stomach...
am I in the non-inclusive group?!
So awesome that you were able to be a part of the baptism!!! I love technology! Your Chuseok Day looks like it was so much fun! I have got to try to find a Korean church in the area so we can take part next year!
You have to love technology! How amazing! The festival looked so fun. I was unable to find a Chuseok festival close to me, although I'm sure there were several. Maybe next year!
How cool to be a part of the baptism. I'm so excited for you and Norbyah to reunite next summer and for you to meet Cally Jane. You are surrounded by such an amazing group of people--I love to see all of the details.
I keep reading this post (mine is almost ready). I love to read about your perspective. I loved the videos with your voice. It really was such a touching baptism. You were with me. It's just amazing to think about making eye contact - through the computer! And feeling that emotional connection, thousands of miles apart from each other. I can't wait for next summer.
And poor Emmett. I do hope he's feeling better.
And another connection, the reason Mark and Cathi were able to visit from Seoul at this time was because of the very same holiday you were celebrating with the kids.
Wow.
xo
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