From the journal.
Recipes, culture, hanbok, and the meaning behind Korean traditions. Written by Eric and Mrs. Lee Youngsook, posted as we cook and source.
The Five Saekdong Colors: What the Striped Sleeves Mean
The stripes are a cosmology, not a rainbow A one year old sits for her 돌 photos in her first hanbok. The sleeves are striped…
Korean CultureThe Three Korean Bows: Sebae, Jeol, and Daejeol Explained
Three bows, not one A five year old in a saekdong jeogori folds forward at her grandfather's feet on Seollal morning. An uncle…
Korean-American LifeDol Invitation Wording: Bilingual Samples
The bilingual invitation problem One envelope goes to a halmeoni in Anyang. Another goes to a coworker in Menlo Park who has…
RecipesMiyeok-guk on Birthdays: The Korean Birthday Soup Tradition
The soup a Korean eats on their birthday A Korean mother sets a bowl of dark green seaweed soup at her child's place on the…
Korean-American LifeDol Photography: The Ten Shots to Make Sure Your Photographer Captures
Brief the photographer before the day The doljabi lasts about four seconds. The baby reaches, the room gasps, someone claps, and…
Korean-American LifeChristian Korean Families and Chudo Yebae
What chudo yebae is The photograph is the center of the room. A hymnbook, a Bible, a small candle, chairs pulled into a loose…
Korean CultureThe Deep Bow (큰절): A Tutorial for Brides and Grooms
The bow is the axis of the whole ceremony The bride in the hwarot lowers to her knees, sleeves draped, attendants at each elbow…
Korean-American LifeSebae for Kids: Teaching Your Child the Korean New Year Bow
What sebae is The four year old kneels on the living room rug on Seollal morning. She folds forward, forehead almost to the…
Korean CultureThe Pyebaek-sang Decoded: Nine Offerings, One Table
Why nine The paebaek table sits low, dressed in red silk. Jujubes rise in an architectural tower to the east, chestnuts to the…
Bay AreaThe Bay Area Korean Grocery Store Guide for Ceremony Food
The Bay Area has strong Korean grocery infrastructure Every Korean ceremony starts with a shopping list. Jujubes, chestnuts, a…
Korean CultureThe Heonsu Toast: What to Say to Your Korean Parent on Their Milestone Birthday
What heonsu is The elder sits at the head of the table in a silk hanbok. A grown child kneels, holds a small cup of cheongju with…
Korean-American LifePaebaek at a Western Wedding: How to Fit Both
The situation most Korean American couples land in The dress is Western. The venue is a hotel ballroom or a winery. The parents…
Korean-American LifeThe Non-Korean Parent's Guide to Your Child's Dol
What a dol actually is The child sits on a low cushion in a small formal hanbok. In front of her: a stethoscope, a length of…
Korean CultureHwangap vs Gohi vs Palsun: Which Milestone Birthday to Celebrate Big
The register moved with life expectancy Miyeok-guk on the stove for a father turning sixty. A mother turning seventy in a jade…
Bay AreaChuseok in California: A Bay Area Guide for Korean American Families
Chuseok is not Korean Thanksgiving The harvest moon rises over the Bay in early October, and somewhere in San Mateo a mother is…
Korean CultureThe Charye Table Setup: Seven Confucian Placement Rules
The charye table is a diagram, not a decoration A Korean grandmother walks into a room set for 차례 and reads the table the way a…
Korean CultureModern Doljabi Items: What Korean American Families Choose in 2026
Doljabi is the moment the family remembers The baby sits on a low cushion. Nine objects are laid out in a slow arc: brush…
Bay AreaBay Area Dol Venues: Where to Hold Your Child's First Birthday
The dol venue decides the whole day Saturday morning in San Mateo, and the doljabi table is the first thing carried in. The…
Korean-American LifeHow to Plan a Paebaek in the Bay Area
The paebaek is small, formal, and the most Korean part of the day A proper paebaek needs six things: a folding screen, a low…
Hanbok GuidesThree Honest Ways to Buy Hanbok Stateside
Three honest paths A San Francisco bride texted last February. She had three months, no relatives in Seoul, and a mother-in-law…
Hanbok GuidesA Paebaek in the Bay Area
The Bay Area Korean wedding format Most Korean weddings in the Bay Area run in two acts. A Western ceremony in the afternoon, a…
Hanbok GuidesThe Knot at the Goreum
What a norigae is The norigae Mrs. Lee still carries was tied by her mother the winter before she left Seoul in 1979. Coral silk…
Hanbok GuidesThe Hanbok Most Women Own First
What a cheollik is A customer stopped in San Mateo on a Tuesday afternoon to try on a navy 철릭 in silk-modal. She wore it out of…
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