One City at a Time

Days before the 14th of February, 2010, I asked my husband if he was planning to give me anything for Valentine's Day. My husband laughed and said, "on Feb. 14, girls give guys gifts, not the other way around."

I was surprised at his reaction and asked him to explain further. He just laughed and said, "you're in Korea now, my dear. Here in Korea, girls give the guys they care for some chocolates or sweets. Guys, in turn, return their love (if there's any) on March 14. Either that or they give sweets to the girls they actually like. Those who don't get any gifts on either dates are supposed to eat jajangmien (black noodles) together on April 14th." April 14, also known as "Black Day", is the day for the those who are still yet to meet their true loves :-)


Capitalistic! Haha, as my classmate describes these holidays (which aren't limited to just these three months!) But anyway, last Friday my students gave me some candies to celebrate White Day. I hadn't known that March 14 was called "White Day" before until several days before when they asked me what I was planning on that day. My ignorance of this celebration astonished my students, and they suddenly started speaking to each other in Korean and then smiled at me. "Never mind teacher," they said.

Still, even though their teacher was ignorant enough to know about this, they were still thoughtful enough to give me candies. But I felt that this tradition was a bit strange, so I decided to do some more research on it. And I found out that this "White Day" is actually a strategy made by sweet producers to further promote their products. On the 14th of every month of a year there's bound to be a celebration that's related to love in some way. To further explain my statement, below are the celebrations that take place on the 14th of each month:


January 14 is Candle Day.
February 14 is Valentine's Day (a day which girls give chocolates or sweets to the boys they like).
March 14 is White Day. On this day, boys are supposed to give girls that they like some sweets (other than chocolates, although I don't know if this is still practiced today after seeing so many chocolates on sale with the words White Day taped across its covers in the local supermarket).
April 14 is known as Black Day. You'll know on March 15 whether or not you can celebrate Black Day. This day is for those individuals who had not received a single gift from anyone on either Valentine's or White Day, and they therefore gather together to eat jajangmien or black noodles.
May 14 is known as Rose Day.
June 14 is known as Kiss Day.
July 14 is known as Silver Day.
August 14 is known as Green Day.
September 14 is known as Music Day.
October 14 is known as Wine Day.
November 14 is known as Movie Day.
December 14 is known as Hug Day.I can't deny that Korea seems to have quite a lot of celebrations (for capitalistic reasons, I believe) but hey, maybe it's not such a bad thing. At least this way, everyone can have a reason to be extra happy and spend time with their loved ones especially on the 14th of every month. :-)

Have a good morning, and happy White Day to all!