Pepero day

In the Western world, yesterday was a day to remember the sacrifices made by so many soldiers over the years. It is usually a day marked with an air of seriousness and respect.

In Korea, yesterday was Pepero day. Pepero (or Pocky as they are known in Japan and America) are long, thin cookies that are dipped in chocolate. There are multiple varieties of pepero that you can buy. There are the original ones, chocolate almond or chocolate peanut, white chocolate, "naked" pepero (which is where the chocolate is inside of a hollow cookie straw) and some that are quite gourmet. I even had one student give me some that were homemade.

Pepero day is on November 11th. There are several theories floating around about why those is. The date (11/11) looks like four pepero sticks, so some people think that it was manufactured by Lotte, the company that makes pepero. The other most popular theory seems to be that some girls in Busan (in the Southern part of South Korea) would give each other pepero with the wish that they would grow to be tall and thin just like a pepero.

Regardless of how it came to be, Pepero Day is an unofficial holiday of some importance. You can buy pepero EVERYWHERE in the days leading up to it. You are supposed to give pepero to your friends and significant others. I got pepero from quite a few of my students. I have a large bag of them sitting next to my desk. I would take a picture to show you, but the batteries on my camera died, and I haven't found where to go to get new ones yet.

The only unfortunate thing about all of this is I don't really like pepero that much... So what should I do with all of these peperos????