Kaiyan turns
ONE

Getting there

Finding us in the park

Ralph B. Clark is a big park with more than one shelter, and the street address will drop you at the gate rather than at us. Enter from Rosecrans Ave, pay the $3 parking fee, then follow the main road and look for Shelter Site #2. We’ll have balloons up so you can spot us from the lot.

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The afternoon

How the day goes

• 1:00 · Doors open
  The buffet comes out and stays out. Come whenever; there’s no wrong time to arrive.
• 2:30 · Doljabi
  Kaiyan picks his fortune. This is the part you don’t want to miss.
• 3:00 · Cake
  From here it’s just cake and hanging out.
• 5:00 · Wind down
  Stay as long as you like until then.

A quick explainer

What’s a dol?

In Korean tradition the first birthday, the dol, is the big one. For most of Korean history making it to one wasn’t a given, so the day a baby turned one became the day the entire family turned out to celebrate. That’s still what it is: everyone in one place, a lot of food, and one very small guest of honor.

The centerpiece is the doljabi. We set out a table of objects, put Kaiyan down in front of it, and let him crawl to whichever one he likes. Whatever he grabs is said to hint at the life ahead of him. It takes about five minutes, it is completely unpredictable, and it is the best part of the day.

• Thread
  A long life
• Money
  Wealth
• Rice
  He’ll never go hungry
• Pencil
  A scholar
• Gavel
  A judge
• Stethoscope
  A doctor

His first year

Three days old to almost one