Happy Pepero Day!

Today is Pepero Day, a Valentine's day like holiday here in Korea. Jeff and I had been seeing all of these candy displays like this in the stores . . .


. . . so we finally did some investigating and learned that today, November 11th, is Pepero Day. Here's what Wikipedia says about it:

Pepero Day is a unofficial holiday in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day or Sweetest Day. It is named after the Korean snakc Pepero and held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resemble four sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts. According to the story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero" (Pepero means "thin like a stick"). However, it is more likely it was initiated by Lotte, the company which produces Pepero. While in most countries of the world, November 11th is a day of rememberance (since it signaled the end of World War I), in Korea it is a day of romance, gaudy cardboard packaging emblazoned with butchered English love lines, and massive fortunes earned by convenience stores and Wonka-esque entrepreneurs. Many students are truant on this day to celebrate with their friends. In Japan, a similar Pocky (pronounced like hockey) Day was held on November 11 in 1999, which was the 11th year of the Heisei era. The date, 11/11 of the 11th year, resembled 6 sticks of Pocky. According to Korean sources this day was based on the Pepero Day.

Of course we had to try these Pepero sticks, and I must say, they are really good. They are kind of like pretzels, but not as salty, and a little bit more cracker like. Then they are covered different kinds of chocolate and toppings. We really like the milk chocolate and almond ones. Here's a picture of them: