Amanda’s 16th Birthday
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSUT0pDlaKDSAFUPgQoMQgnUCEAtemQ6BWyPBJ4v5mIrfCMMOh8fPJsPZTRWMmhQp1JSYzrlYN31PteRo4ZPIr_aFMKDZUxD0uaBR_UKZ32K2THcn7unMm8H4qGz_Ez2HDbwym62dy3q9/s1600/pensive.jpg)
So, I have fretted over what to do for Amanda’s 16th birthday for several years now. In the back of my mind I thought I would throw a huge party or maybe get her a red convertible sports car. For a while, I have been asking her what she needed...she always told me, “artwork supplies, clothes, jewelry, etc.”
As time grew nearer, I began to worry more because nothing I thought of seemed to be fitting and what she said she needed wasn’t going to work either. I definitely can not afford a car nor am I a “throw a party person.”
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoY8goSSkK1dO0x_RcSN5no1HY5sw1GFS713heTQCapyI40kPUywa76F4tYsjwEhMxUtC7aQBnNDdq6ERfYmF9GNwoI2JBoCV2mmRIYCAvH498A4WNU7aNT3cCwTWmC8VIgZ-oUGQ_oYL_/s1600/amanda.jpg)
Then I decided what she really needed: a father. Someone to be there when she did not know where to turn. So, I thought that I would emphasize the point...
On her birthday, I took her out to the Top Cloud in Seoul for a nice “alone time” dinner. The gift? I did not get the a car, jewelry or clothes. I decided I would give her a symbol. Something to mark the passage of her 16 years and a sign of status. I found her an eunjangdo (은장도) dagger.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewQ2qCtigM_di25YgXBxNcn6HBe0NPRnmHrbgdGJll0_Asv1ztml68G-E8S19gOLIuGlvVVdvmhFGWiYNOJ_V2J3D8Nu3LKZvxnrN5ITe-cZecPFnIk44DVRoD1Jzac0-IqLy8Qr9J1By/s1600/P1020208.jpg)
An eunjangdo (은장도) is an ornamental dagger, that used to be worn by Korean women of rank as a chest pendant and a symbol of their social standing. Under the auspices of Confucian moral obligation in medieval Korea, the dagger served as a weapon to save women from personal humiliation or peril. However, not by attacking the assailant, but by killing themselves as ‘to remain faithful to one’s spouse’. Maybe a bit much for today’s standards...but you get the point. ;-)
Dinner conversation was lovely and time well spent. I would never had a chance to talk to her if I threw a party and would never see her again if I actually got her a car.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yMmP0VX5YGJyvtgBKvgr39RBNDsVTC5UwTqsinrpwp6DgMU6Bh5X3LFVaKX38uIkhJzsC1uGZh9AtLENpEwFvMuthzSfYPYKgWFSOfny8ydRTi16NSG0-c2b2vlH-ydv4gxVm_f4uV5S/s1600/cake.jpg)
After dinner, we went back home and the kids had cake ready. We all stuffed our faces with chocolate cake and ice cream...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jfXqWe2zIP8I7EnnCmIXEsDPqKQf4O1r8hO3RES9oqWyuvXPJpuVVEqI8E7jNtzwscUt_VPGALVUG6TK0JfyFFxoTJzpl9L5HDzzdUisrtcnUUDkHjNXPS8zLGFn5ECHUjk4zrwfitPw/s1600/happy.jpg)
...everyone autographed her birthday book and I began to worry about Alexandria’s 16th. OMG! That’s in 2 years!
Labels: 16th birthday, birthday, eunjangdo, korea, ornamental dagger, seoul, top cloud, 은장도
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home