Cycle 12 – Cycle 197

14 (Sun) July 2013

DJ’s 6th Birthday Spread

3.0

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with the Family, DJ’s friends

For DJ’s 6th Birthday (technically tomorrow), we threw him a little party at home (the day before, being a Sunday).  He’s been really good these days, especially to his little brother, and excelling in school, so he deserved a reward.

DJ designed the menu.  He requested three of his favorites: tonkatsu + shrimp fried rice + stir-fried broccoli.  All kid-friendly, everybody seemed to enjoy the food.

One of kids was shocked upon tasting the tonkatsu – I mean, his eyes popped wide open like a comic cliché.  Before that moment, an hour prior, he’d struggled to comprehend why DJ’s father was preparing dinner.  “Men cook?  Really?!?!”  His father hails from the city Busan, where men are notoriously opposed to engaging in domestic duties.  Reportedly, early in the marriage, the kid’s mom had once asked the dad to take out the garbage, on a winter night, which he did, but then griped about the indignity to his own mother, who then called up her daughter-in-law in a livid rage that her son had been debased to handle waste in the bitter cold.  So, back in the Hahm household, where the man of the house is debased on a daily basis, in so many ways, the kid was impressed to the point of enlightenment.  When his mom arrived, the first thing that he said to her was, “Mom, DJ’s father made tonkatsu!!”  That made the whole day worthwhile for me.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)