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The Korean-Arts’
Monthly* Newsletter for March 6, 2007
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You asked for
it: New Items…
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Due
to numerous requests for lots of small, Korea
unique items, like bookmarks, compact hand mirrors for the purse, No-ri-gae and phone fobs, we have added
exactly that!
Do
you have a request of your own? Is there anything you would like us to carry
that you don’t see on our website or, are you looking for that special
piece of celadon that you haven’t been able to find anywhere? Let us
know what you want and we will do our best to find it and get it up on the
web for you.
All
our new bookmarks have a unique Korean flair and are made of brass to be
extra durable. Shown is the Bu-chae bookmark
which has a Sam-tae-guk symbol
in the center which stands for the Asian yin and yang principle and,
according to ancient Korean philosophers, is a representation of the structure
of the universe. In addition to the one shown, we have eight other styles
ranging from the Emilae bell-shaped
bookmark, one shaped like a set of Korean han-bok
clothes to one shaped like a Shilla
Dynasty golden crown and lots more in between. See all our new
bookmarks here or our whole
selection of new stuff here.
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Compact Hand
Mirrors
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Perfect for the purse; elegant compact
hand mirrors with traditional designs from Korean culture. The one shown to
the right has a pair of cranes, which stands for immortality
and are revered in Korean culture because they mate for life. We have four
designs of the style shown at right, which is light and has a plastic case,
and four designs in a slightly larger and heavier
mirror made of stainless steel that might stand up to the rigors of purse
life a bit better. Many of them are quite colorful with hot pinks, royal
blues, and reds and have designs of roses, butterflies, and the ten longevity
symbols. The inside all have double mirrors – one on each side. See the whole selection of
mirrors here.
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No-ri-gae
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No-ri-gae are a kind of
pendant or trinket but really, there is no good word for them in English, so we just call them call them no-ri-gae. The word trinket or plaything
is somewhat accurate in that there is also a word in Korean no-ri-gaet-gam which is a plaything or a
toy. Traditionally no-ri-gae
were hung on womens’ han-bok (traditional
Korean clothing) at the waist to add color and class to the outfit. Nowadays
they are still used in that manner when han-bok
is worn, which is becoming less frequent except by older women, and they are
also hung on the handles of traditional Korean furniture such as cabinets,
and on doorknobs, to add a touch of color and
traditional elegance. We have ten different colors and styles of the long
original style and seven colors of the miniature ones like the one shown at
left. The small ones are small enough they could even be used as phone fobs.
See all
the no-ri-gae here or all our new stuff here.
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Phone Fobs
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As
we have said before, Korea
is probably the most wired country in the world and Koreans have been slaves
to their cell phones (we call them handphones)
for a very long time. As such, the handphone
has become a fashion statement and having the right phone fob is very
important. Handphones in Korea
are sometimes hand-painted, covered with stickers or colorful plastic cases
to get the look just right and the right phone fob is essential to the
overall look. It is to this end that we have added the bok-ju-meo-ni (fortune bag) phone fobs.
They come in ten colors and all have the Chinese symbol for fortune (bok) on them (Korea
used the Chinese writing system until the invention of their unique
alphabet by King Se-jong in
the 15th Century).
During the Korean Lunar New Year, which just passed on February 18, children
show their filial piety by bowing to their parents and grandparents and
receive money from them for fortune in the New Year. The money is kept in the
bok-ju-meo-ni and represents
the wish of good fortune and happiness for the New Year. See all our new
phone fobs here.
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We love our wedding ducks and the
tradition that goes with them. In ancient times, when a couple got married
the father of the bride would ask a friend with the five fortunes: wealth,
health, no divorces, a good wife and many sons, to carve the wedding ducks
and ‘share’ some of his good fortune with the new bride. The
ducks are then used during the ceremony and after the wedding, they are
placed in a conspicuous place in the house and their position, set by either spouse, tells of the
couple’s marital status – nose to nose means the couple is
getting along well and tail to tail means things are a bit rocky. Well, we
like that tradition and want everyone to share in it, so we are throwing in a
pair of small wedding ducks (DS012S
Miniature Colored Wedding Duck Set $5) in with every order over $50
(including shipping) through the end of March. There is no need to ask for them or click on a special
button or anything so complicated. We will simply send
a pair with every order that fits the bill. Read more about the Korean
wedding duck tradition here or see our collection of wedding
ducks here.
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About Korea: Gift Giving in Korea
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Seol-nal (Lunar
New Year) and Chuseok (harvest
festival) gifts
Truth
be told, the gifts given during the two major holidays of Seol-nal and Chuseok can be a bit strange. Many of the more expensive
gifts are nice and include boxes of delicious Korean pears (Asian-pears) or
boxes of marinated beef for making delicious Kal-bi (Korean sliced roasted
beef). On the other hand, the lower end gifts in the $50 to $100 range
include sets of relatively common items like those pictured at right, such as olive oil gift sets, Spam gift sets, and tuna gift sets or some
combination of the above. The expensive gifts are usually given to close
friends and family or among those seeking favor like company representatives
seeking contracts and such. The lower end gifts are given to those who are not so close, or to company employees. We are not sure what one would do with a
12 pack of Spam, but who are we to judge!
Weddings
Korean wedding lists often include
hundreds of people that the bride and groom barely know, or don’t know
at all because one of the goals is to have as many people there as possible
to show the import of the wedding. And this, it seems, works out quite well
for the parents who must foot the
bill.
Wedding gifts usually include an envelope with from $30 to $100 in it from
mere acquaintances and the envelopes are checked into the guest register at
the front of the wedding hall and given to the parents of the couple after
the wedding to help pay for the wedding (weddings in Korea are really
expensive). Close friends of the bride and groom, on the other hand, want
their money to go directly to the couple and not to the parents so they
sometimes give the envelope to the couple surreptitiously. Very close friends
may also give personal gifts like sleepwear or other
clothing.
Funerals
At funerals, like weddings, an
envelope with money is given but since they are not happy occasions
mere acquaintances are not invited.
Birthdays
Birthdays of the younger generation are mostly celebrated with
friends who go out together for a night on the town and the evening almost
always starts with dinner and a ‘birthday cake’. Birthday cakes
are such an essential part of the scene that they can be readily purchased in every bakery, every day, anytime of the day or night.
Gifts from the friends usually include personal gifts such as clothes.
Business Gifts
Business
gifts are pretty much dictated by the level of the relationship. Upper level
managers will sometimes give some of the more expensive gifts listed above to
their superiors during the big holidays either just as gifts, or to win
favor, recognition, or a promotion. The company or the boss usually gives
money or the more expensive gifts to the upper level managers and the less expensive gift sets to the lower level managers. As mentioned above, the
lowest level of company employees usually get the cheapest gift sets like
Spam or cultural gift certificates, which are redeemable for movies, books,
and other cultural events and are really quite a nice and
flexible gift.
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Sincerely
The Korean-Arts staff
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*Generally, we send a newsletter
every month, but may delay it until we have new items or specials.
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