빼빼로 데이 (Pepero Day)

Today, November 11, is Pepero Day in Korea. On Pepero Day people, particularly students and teachers (apparently), give each other a snack called Pepero. Pepero is a long, thin stick made of cookie dipped in chocolate. Some varieties are filled with chocolate instead of dipped in it or they might be sprinkled with almonds in addition to the chocolate coating. You may be asking yourself, “Why is November 11 Pepero Day?” The answer is obvious. When you write out the date numerically, 11/11, the date clearly looks like two pairs of Pepero. It only makes sense that you would give out Pepero on this date. It is actually quite a brilliant marketing ploy, inventing a holiday where people buy your product and your product only. It also seems like everyone in Korea is aware of it. I assumed that my students would know about it, seeing as how it was a day devoted to sweets. But I was amazed how every grocery store and corner shop suddenly had enormous displays of the stuff. There were tents with vendors on the street selling Pepero this whole past week. The whole thing seemed to be a really big deal.


In spite of the evil corporate marketing behind this holiday it was a really enjoyable day. Most of my students would ask me at the beginning of class, “Teacha, do you know what today is?” They giggled with joy when I answered, “Pepero Day, of course!” They also really enjoyed that instead of writing the date on the board I wrote 빼빼로 데이. Many of my students made a point of bringing me Pepero, some of it was even home made! They seemed very excited to give it to me and they were ecstatic when at the end of class I handed out Pepero. I can only assume all the sugar will one day warp their brains, but that seems fine, it can’t be any worse than all of the pop we consume in the states. Believe it or not celebrating this holiday really brightened my day. Make sure to mark your calendars for next year and stock up on plenty of Pepero so that you too can celebrate this wonderful holiday.