grandfather memory

my dad's dad was a very traditional man. i have a stereotype image of old korean men: white gown, long long white beard, hat, long pipe. my grandfather fit this to a T. he was a leader in his village. his family was wealthy and my dad tells the story that when my grandfather was young, he did not walk anywhere; servants carried him around in a portable carriage. he was also very smart - being called to the capital for further education and training to serve in the royal palace but apparently he preferred being served by his servants and didn't like it when others told him what to do... so he went back to be the "king" of his village. i don't remember my grandfather. he passed away when i was young. the only story that i have of him as it relates to me is that he refused to name me (a tradition in the korean culture for the dad's dad to name the first born son) because i was not a boy. so they went to my mom's dad and he gave me my korean name.

a little side note of korean names - korean males in a family will share one part of the name.... korean names are always 2 parts. and the part of the name has already been decided - not sure by whom. but you basically go to a korean name book for your family and it tells you based on what generation you are, what name you're supposed to have. my dad's generation is "kyu" my cousin's generation is "chong". the kids of my cousin's generation is "tae". so if you're a korean male, part of your name has already been decided long before your time. for girls, there's really no such tradition. so my parents sort of made one up. my sister and i share "won" in our names. not sure what happened w/ my youngest sister, but she doesn't have it as part of her name.