Pepero Day

Let's rewind to November 11th.  It's Pepero Day!  This special day takes place in Korea every year on 11/11.  It is comparable to our Valentine’s Day, with less sedimental value.  No cards are exchanged, but instead, pepero is given and received.  Pepero is a rather delicious cookie stick dipped in chocolate; very similar to pocky.  There are different variations, from basic to more fancy versions (think caramel and nuts).  It is held on “11/11”, as this date resembles four pepero sticks.  Rumor has it that Lotte (one of the largest Korean retail chains) started the holiday to boost sales of this snack.  Kinda brilliant, for them. Whatever the case, I enjoyed chowing on pepero all day.  I was a bad teacher and didn't buy any for my students; in fact one first grader was mad all class that I didn't hand any out. But many students brought in some for me.  Oink.  Oink.

  

 

Boseong Green Tea Plantation

I have come to terms that I suck at keeping a blog.  I don’t know what it is, but I can’t seem to update it on a regular basis.  Back around the 4^th grade, one of my mother’s many card readers told her that I tend to be lazy.  I am pretty sure that still holds true today.   Anyways, great things have been happening in Korea since I last wrote.  The fall weather was beautiful.  I experienced my first traditional Korean wedding, Pepero day, and celebrated my first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from home.  As the chilly winter weather sweeps in, both Adam and I have been full of holiday cheer and eager to see what and where the New Year will bring us.

I am pretty sure I was experiencing a post-Christmas high on Sunday night; we had an amazing Christmas weekend.  I was nervous about being homesick, but to my surprise I was not.  Leading up to Christmas, many of the retail stores were festively decorated, and I saw my first Korean Santa Claus walking around downtown.  We decorated an area of our apartment with a small tree and hung stockings.  Adam introduced me to Christmas movies that I haven’t seen before: Bad Santa, It’s a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Story.  Singing Christmas carols with the kindergarteners for the past month also filled me with holiday cheer.  

I have so many things that I could write about, but I am going to focus this post on the Boseong tea plantation that we went to the weekend before Christmas.  It is the largest green tea field in Korea.  Each year they have a light festival during the holiday season.  I read that this festival is meant to send a message of hope for the New Year for those who visit.  It was about an hour away from Gwangju, and we arrived at sun set.  Perfect timing; the view was breath taking!  Once dark, the Christmas lights went on, we walked around, and even got our photo with "Santa."  We stopped in the café and treated ourselves to some green tea and green tea ice cream.  It was delicious and a well needed escape from the cold weather!  Below are some pictures.  I am off the next few days, so I am hoping to catch up on my blog.  Stay tuned.  

hearts to write a New Year wish on...

Tea Time

Lights covering rows of green tea