A friend from home asked me the other day if we celebrate Valentine’s day and St. Patrick’s Day in Korea, so I thought it should be time for a holiday edition!
St. Paddy’s day passed with no notice. We were away on our Service Learning trips, and I didn’t notice anything green or Irish before we left. A couple “Irish” pubs in Seoul advertised specials, but it seems pretty niche and not a big deal. Not much luck-o-the-Irish here.
Valentine’s, however, is pretty cool. You think Hallmark’s bad? Koreans have turned this into 3 separate cash-cow holidays spanning February, March AND April! Here’s how they work:
White Day candy display (photo from connect korea blog)
- February 14: Red Day. This is the WOMAN’S responsibility. Get chocolates, cook a nice meal, or arrange a special date for your man. Like in the states, women often give less expensive/time-consuming gifts to many friends, co-workers, family, etc.
- March 14: White Day. Girls relax; now it’s the guy’s turn. Guys traditionally get their girlfriends/wives flowers, funky stuffed animals, chocolates, etc.
- April 14: Black Day. The rule here is if you’re unmarried (and young, usually), and did not receive anything on Feb or Mar 14, you meet your single friends at Chinese restaurants to eat black bean paste dinner. Not sure if this is wallowing or more of a mixer/speed-date arrangement, but it’s coming up soon!
Chinese noodles with black bean paste
Since our birthdays are so close to these holidays, and we were traveling on both the Feb and Mar “romance” days, we didn’t do much. I think I bought Patrick a brownie from the school deli. I’m such a romantic…
Half of the population in Korea identify as Christian, so I expect to see some stores focusing on the Easter holidays coming up too. I’ll be surprised if there are Easter baskets, though. More typical of most holidays so far have been “gift boxes” to present to family or whoever is hosting your celebration. Most common boxes include fruits, sausages, or, my favorite, SPAM!
SPAM gift set with oils and spices. Another set we saw had a row of “World Oils” including Chinese Sesame, Italian Olive, and American Canola. Exotic!
Our next school holiday will be for Buddha’s birthday, the first weekend in May. I’ll give you an update about that when it comes. It’s supposed to be a terrible time to travel in China, Japan or Korea. I’m thinking of it like Thanksgiving in the states – everyone travels to go home for the weekend. We’re planning to go camping and stay away from the crowds.