In order to set the stage, we, of course, had to have the right backdrop. Good thing you can easily rent most things in Korea! The partition behind the tables has the same picture as the one behind the King's throne in the palaces in Korea. The round tables symbolize our hope that Ripley will become a generous person. The red table cloth is used to keep away misfortune.
On the larger blue table, there are many different types of food. We have dates which symbolize our hope that Ripley will have many children. I was fortunate to be able to travel to the Middle East before Ripley's Doljabi and I was able to buy Iranian dates to pull in a little bit of the country where Michael was born. Also, on the table is stacked fruit in the hope that Ripley will never go hungry, rice in the hope that Ripley will always be wealthy in money and food, and seaweed soup to remind him of what his mother went through when she gave birth to him. There are also paper flowers as a symbol of celebration, but in Buddhist tradition it is wrong to kill a living thing so we weren't able to use real flowers.
This is Ripley in his traditional Korean hanbok with Mommy.
We gathered all of our friends together and explained all of the different parts and symbols of the traditional Doljabi. We even had Ripley's Godparents, Bob and Carlee Kowalec, on Skype to watch the ceremony.
Although Ripley was supposed to choose an object from the table in front of him, he really wanted that pomegranate on the other table!
On the table, he could choose from the following six objects:
Thread symbolizes a long and happy life.
Coins symbolize wealth and abundance in all one undertakes.
A ball symbolizes athletic prowess.
A book symbolizes a life-long love of learning.
Paint brushes symbolize a love and/or talent in the arts—from painting to music to performing.
A bow and arrow symbolize bravery and strength.
After looking at the fruit for a long time, Ripley put his hand down on the book for a few moments and then went for the baseball. We were told to record the first two things that he chooses, and may guests thought that he might write a book about baseball some day! In any case, we are thrilled to have a life-long learner who loves sports.
