Today is Pepero day in Korea. Originally, I thought the occasion originated in Japan and got transported across the East Sea to Korea. As it turns out it was the other way 'round. Check the link above to read more.

Pepero are the chocolate covered cookie sticks known in Japan as Pocky. In America you can sometimes find them in the Asian section of some supermarkets. It's pepero day because today is November 11th. Get it? 11/11. All day children give each other boxes of the stuff. As a teacher, I'm sure to get an armload of them.

Pepero day is nothing less than a stroke of marketing genius. It is to chocolate cookie sticks what Thanksgiving is to turkeys, what Mother's day is to flowers, what Halloween is to apples and razor blades. Wait...what?

This is honest to God my favoritist day in Korea, and not merely because it's a day devoted to snacks. I love it because it's just fun. To my knowledge, no one has ever died for pepero. There's no Pepero ceremonies, no Pepero day cards, no expensive gifts, no drunk uncle phil at the annual Pepero day party, no heavy-handed moralizing tales about the true meaning of Pepero day. If you like someone, you give them some Pepero. That's it. Participation is strictly optional. If you decide to be a Pepero Scrooge, that's entirely your business.

Of course in America, Canada, and western Europe, today marks the end of World War One. It's a solemn day of remembrance, and well it should be. In extoling the virtues of Pepero day, I don't mean to make light of today's other holiday. But today doesn't have the same significance in Asia that it does in Europe and other countries. So why not have some fun with it? Pepero to the people!