Sunday, October 30, 2011

Fun Gifts for Quirky Korean Holidays

Yeot


My good friend Ethlenn posted this up on her blog as well. She found this lovely article from "Korea JoongAng Daily" on Korean holidays, naming some peculiar and fun gifts that are given during said days and also giving a bit of an explanation about their meaning.

I think that it's a very well done piece, shedding some light on things we might not know much about as foreigners. The author mentions quite a few holidays and one thing that cracked me up was her following confused question:

"I don’t know where the idea that Koreans are shy about expressing their feelings came from, but it is incorrect."

Korean dramas where the passionate lovers kiss like 10-year-olds only once, before they're practically at "getting married" stage? Where a 30-year-old guy goes all "shucks" if his arm brushes the girl he likes? Where a woman acts like someone offended her family's honor when they dare kiss her after the mutual attraction has become obvious and accepted?

Yes, if we go by dramas, Koreans are all virgins well in their late 30s and they only touch people in non-romantic ways, unless they want to be daring and overly "modern". :P

As for Black Day, the day of singles, what a bleak name it is. I mean, we're not that sad. XD Plus, if I could taste some friggin' jjajangmyeon, which Korean entertainment has been torturing me with, I'd lie even!


Jjajangmyeon


But setting that aside, such articles are nice little peeks indeed. They are not only interesting, but they give some more information on everyday life things that we may not know or misunderstand (those of us who think dramas = reality).

And now I must go and raid my fridge for sweet and savory stuff. Curse Google Image Search and Korean yummy goodness!

 
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