April 25 was a very special and meaningful day for the Lippert family.  It was Sejun’s 100th day!  Time really flies as a new parent.  I still remember the first time I held him in my arms.

There are so many great traditions in Korea, and a child’s 100th day celebration is definitely one of them.  My wife and I love any reason to get together with friends, and since Sejun was born in Korea, we decided to have a 100th day party for him.  We asked our Korean friends to advise us on how to prepare, and we enjoyed learning about the traditions and getting ready for the celebration.

We are grateful to all the guests who spent their Saturday with the Lippert family.  Among the guests were friends and colleagues from the Blue House, National Assembly, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other ROKG officials, Ambassadors, and business and cultural leaders.  Of course, we also invited Dr. Cho, from Severance Hospital, who delivered Sejun, and Dr. Lew and Dr. Choi who were my main doctors after the attack of 5 March, as well as many other professionals from various walks of life.  Grigsby (AKA Sejun’s 형님) also enjoyed making new friends and trying to steal everyone’s food.  We tried to get a photo of him, but he was too fast!

There were a lot of unforgettable moments for us at the event.  Sharing the delicious “100 day rice cake” and seeing the heart-warming smiles of our guests, you could say I really felt the “Jeong” 정(情).  After greeting the many distinguished guests, Sejun modeled his new hanbok for everyone and even sat up in his chair.  Sitting up is the first of many milestones we look forward to witnessing as parents.

The food for the party was catered by Vatos and Linus, two well-known local restaurants in Itaweon owned by Korean-Americans.  It was delicious!  This is a great example of the people-to-people, cultural, and business ties between our two countries.  These business people are hard-working entrepreneurs who have created a successful business in this vibrant environment. There is an article about these two restaurants in the Washington Post by Anna Fifield, entitled “Korean-Americans Transforming the Food Scene in Central Seoul.”  http://goo.gl/4StiF2

To go with the delicious food, we served some of the Gyodong Beopju, made by the Choi clan, that I brought back from my recent trip to Gyeongju. 

Thanks to everyone who sent Sejun their congratulations for his 100th day birthday.  We can’t wait to see everyone again at Sejun’s one-year-old birthday party.  I am sure it will be even more fun, and we can’t wait to see which object he grabs during the doljabi (돌잡이) ceremony!