Pepero Day
Children get all excited about this day, Pepero Day. Okay, the Korean spelling is 빼빼로, making i
ts literal Romanization “Bbebbero.”
How about Bpebpero?
Actually, if you say it using that spelling, more Koreans will understand you.
Bpebpero comes from the Korean root meaning “skinny.” These are skinny cookie sticks dipped in chocolate. Bpebpero Day occurs on November 11th, or 11/11.
Get it?
It’s an obvious commercial ploy by the Korean conglomerates, more than likely Lotte, to obligate children to buy candies on a specified day. It’s really no different from Hallmark inventing Valentine’s Day to sell more greeting cards.
When I talk about Bpebpero Day with Korean adults, they almost all ask, “What d
o you think about that?”
The adults are acutely aware of the commercial propaganda of this day. Being a teacher and a parent, I have learned that one person alone is powerless against a multi-million dollar marketing campaign.
So I bought a few 500 won packs of Bpebpero to hand out to my students.
On Bpebpero Day, we teachers also receive Bpebpero from students. This was only my second Bpebpero Day, but in one year’s time, it seems like the flavor has improved a lot. Last year, I could barely eat the things because they tasted so laden with chemicals.
This year they tasted more natural, like a delicate Swiss cookie. And they had larger, more creative varieties. My favorite was essentially a waffle cone rolled into a long tube and dipped in chocolate. It was a foot long.
And also, they can be pretty useful. Their pencil-like shapes come in handy when you run out of ink.
