Pepero day

A colleague came to my desk today and gave me two packets of sweets, home made sticks of pastry dipped in chocolate and covered with little bits of nuts. “It’s Pepero day”, she told me.

November 11th, “11/11” – those ones resemble sticks, so it’s become popular in recent years to give gifts of Pepero, produced by the company Lotte and very similar to Pocky sticks in Japan.

There’s a ‘no eating’ rule in the library, so I’ve brought home the gifts I was given. Well, I did eat some, which were delicious, but not when the students were watching.

100-day celebration

 A Korean lady came into the library yesterday with gifts of sweets, made of rice – I think she had been distributing gifts throughout the school. She was celebrating 100 days since the birth of her child. I had seen the baby the day before, strapped to grandma’s back.

In Korean culture, the first 100 days of a baby’s life are considered to be the most fragile so the family celebrate when that milestone is passed. After 100 days, the child can be taken outside and introduced to friends and neighbours.