Last week November 11th came and passed leaving with it, two very different emotions. My natural thoughts were the numerous remembrance services which I have attended in memory of the soldiers who have died fighting since World War 1. My thoughts take me straight back to a year 8 English lesson where we are studying the war poems and how the poppy became an emblem for all those who died fighting for their country. I believe that the poppy resembles the blood spilt during war and derives from the poem 'In Flanders Fields'.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
I am sure that in many commonwealth countries around the world there would be similar thoughts although in Asia there is a completely different mood altogether.
For any small child and I'm sure some older kids too, November 11th marks 'Pepero Day'. There are many of you outside of Korea who won't have a clue what a 'pepero' is, so I will tell you about the frenzy that took place last Thursday.
A pepero is a long, thin biscuit covered in chocolate and they normally come packaged in a box containing around 10 peperos. There are numerous stories as to the origins of these snacks - one being that it started back in 1994 when some middle school students in Busan were exchanging gifts. The second story and probably the more likely is that the company who markets these treats 'Lotte' noticed an increase in sales which peaked on November 11th so they decided to introduce a national holiday.
From what I can gather this holiday has taken flight and is now competing with Christmas to see which can excite and inspire young minds as well as persuade them to hand over their pocket money.
So 11/11 is meant to represent four peperos and on this day, children bring boxes, packets, bags of peperos to exchange with their friends, give to their loved ones and to their favourite members of staff.
Putting an obvious marketing ploy to one side for the moment, it is fantastic to see so much happiness on the kids faces and their was a real buzz as they handed out, shared and fought for this snack which is actually available in every shop all year round!!
I had a particularly lucrative day as I'm sure most foreign teachers do....
but on closer inspection realised that there are some strangely intimate phrases on the boxes which I'm sure my elementary students won't know the meaning of - to be honest I'm not sure I do completely....
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