Happy Pepero Day!

For some reason or another, for reasons I can not exactly begin to comprehend, November 11th is the official Pepero Day in Korea. Pepero is basically the same as Japanese Pocky, if you're more familiar with this name. It's a stick of sweet cookie, coated in chocolate. Then, of course, there are many variations on this general theme.

This holiday is especially geared towards giving Pepero to your friends/ significant others, much like Valentine's Day. There are many stories about why they celebrate this holiday, since it does not have any sort of historical background... the holiday was just created about 10 years ago... The best explanation I could get from my kids is that because 11/11 looks like 4 pepero sticks, they celebrate Pepero Day. For me, that's not really an excuse to celebrate... but, hey, what do I know. This holiday was actually somehow created by Lotte (the company that makes them). I don't know how you can turn a marketing scheme into a cultural tradition, but whoever figured it out must be a genius.

I must say, though, that I do appreciate this holiday. It means that I get to eat lots and lots of Pepero that students give to me. If you want to learn more about this ridiculous holiday, check out the wikipedia article.... not that they are able to tell much more than I can.