Anna's Cowboy Campfire

It has been a tradition in our family to have a "cowboy campfire" birthday party for our children when they turn eight years old. As Anna's eighth birthday approached, I knew that this tradition loomed ominously in the background and I didn't quite know how I was going to manage it in Korea. I tried to convince Anna that a birthday party down the street at the local ceramic shop would be nice. I thought that this option would surely win over her artistic heart. But no, she insisted on having a "cowboy campfire". When we sat down to decide on a date, which can be a complicated process in a family of eight, it came down to having the party over Chuseok weekend. Chuseok is a major Korean harvest holiday similiar to Thanksgiving. I told Anna that she may have only two people show up to her party. She said she didn't care. I sent off the invitations quietly relieved by the thoughts of two little eight year old guests coming to the party. The next challenge was the "campfire". By no small miracle, we were able to borrow a fire pit from some expats that live in a gated community near my home. I was so happy to have this taken care of that the thoughts of firewood were left until the afternoon of the day of the party. I called my Korean friend and asked her where I could buy firewood. She hesitated. "Hmmm, I don't know", she said. I asked her to tell me how to say firewood. She hesitated again. I began to feel a little nervous. Then she said, "I have some old chairs that I am going to throw away. Do you want them?" I laughed. No way. Koreans don't build bonfires? Jim said, "Get the chairs. I think they'll work".

So, in the end, we were able to pull off the campfire, broken down chairs and all. And thank goodness, because we had 24 guests that were just dying to sit around the campfire and sing to the guitar music of my dear friend.