100 Days

Historically, 100 days was a very important milestone in a Korean baby's life because the infant mortality rate was so high. A baby that reached 100 days was reason to celebrate - the odds of that baby surviving were much better after that point. Although the infant mortality rate in South Korea is now comparable to North America, 100 days is still celebrated.

After we returned to Korea from our vacation in North America, Dr. and Mrs. Jung took us and some friends out to dinner in celebration of Benjamin's 100 days and presented him with a 24K gold ring signifying longevity. Benjamin is about 5 months in these pictures - he was actually one hundred days on Christmas Eve when we were travelling to Canada. My director, Lydia, and her husband David celebrated with us before our trip and Benjamin received a ring from them too.
Here's Benjamin showing off his ring. Like a typical baby, though, he had the most fun chewing on the gift box. Although we've lived in Korea a number a years, it is still difficult to do some things ourselves because of the language. We've been blessed by Koreans (and Korean-Americans) who have helped us immeasurably during our time here.