Drifting off to sleep one evening, Natalie was twisting my hair and sucking her thumb, when she lazily opened her eyes.   Mom she whispered, can I have a Korean name?

Sure, I answered before I could stop myself.  I felt her fading off into dreams.  I remembered we had chosen her name so carefully, with such attention and purpose.  We loved it for its sound.  The way it went with ‘Hamlin.’  For the way it made us think of an older, classic time.   It’s her name and it suits her.  She’s just Nat.  Nattie.  Nattles.  Noodles.  Noodley.  Nat-Nat.  What else could she possibly be?

I did a little research.  I tried to focus on Korean names, and their complicatedly meaningful meanings, but kept getting sidetracked.  Simple minds and all.  Thusly, I present:   a collection of the most bizarre names ever legally documented.  Courtesy of momswhothink.com.

1. Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined. Some young (and possibly insane) British teenager actually legally changed his name to this long and ridiculous moniker. He says that most people just call him ‘Captain.’

2. Depressed Cupboard Cheesecake. Ah, the British. A charming couple in Kent, England chose this name for their baby. I don’t know if it belongs to a baby girl or boy, but I bet that he or she is currently in therapy.

3. Trout Fishing in America. He was born Peter Eastman, Jr., but he changed it. He just loved the novella that much.

4. Optimus Prime. The Transformers character is so popular that a National Guardsman actually changed his name to this, legally, and has no intention to change it back.

5. They. Yep. Just ‘They.’ He was Andrew Wilson. In 2004 he legally became ‘They.’ Now you know who the they is they’re always talking about…It’s just that guy Andy from Missouri. Weird.

6. Superman. A New Zealand couple named their baby boy this, but that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that was their second choice. Their first choice was ‘4Real.’ Really.

7. Sarah McCain Palin. Umm …they lost, remember?

8. Kayciance Clarita-jayne. K-Séance is the pronunciation, and you would think that they could have at least capitalized ‘Jayne.’

9. Sunshine Deathray. Ok. I can get behind the idea of sunshine. Even rays of sunshine, …but deathrays? No.

10. Aksel. Sure. Like Axl Rose from Guns-n-Roses, or like the axle on your car, or what?

***********************************************************************************

I digressed.  It was worth it.

But, still, I needed a name.  Something sweet, as she is.  And chutzpah-worthy, which she even more is.  See?

So, like the lazy high school student I was in 1989, I urged my students to do the work for me.  You know Natalie, I implored, give her a name!

EunBee, they declared, after much debate.   EunBee is her new name and we shall call her Eunbee and she shall be our little Eunbee…

The name means ‘silver light from the sky.’  It is perfect for her.

I was thinking more along the lines of “Sassypants McSass with Sass Sauce” but she likes Eunbee better.  We’ll see if it sticks.

Our boy Garrett thought he’d give volleyball a shot this season.  He’s been willing to try all sorts of things on this trip – foods, classes, festivals, books, an instrument…he figured, why not continue the trend?  He’d played a bit of volleyball at home, a few times, in gym class at school.  He’s a moderate player, although we do notice he’s got some unique ways of getting the ball over the net, such as a one-two punch a la Muhammed Ali.  The soccer kick also raised some eyebrows.  Legal, yes.  Effective?  Absolutely.  Graceful?  No.  Not so much.

We are proud of him just for participating.  Going out on any limb is a big deal for Garrett (Do not forget, for example, that the last time he went out on a literal limb he broke his pelvis and missed baseball All-Stars.  He did not like that lesson much.)  He is, as many of you know,  a creature of habit.  He would visit the exact same restaurant every single time we left campus if we’d let him, order the same thing and sit at the same table, just because it’s familiar.  So you can imagine what moving to Korea has been like for him.  It’s a life slightly slant, always marginally awry, something always just a tad to the left.  It’s never comfortable, and least of all for our first born.  Poor kid.  He happened to arrive first, so we expect an enormous amount from him.  He isn’t given a lot of space to complain, demand or otherwise be unhelpful.  He has certainly learned to rise to many occasions.  Going out for volleyball was just one thing he’s ventured to do here, on the other side of the world.

So here’s a shout out to Garrett!  Thanks for being the great kid you are!                                                                                                                            

Benz, Garrett, Rinoh and Neil warming up