Happy Pepero Day!

I do realise that for much of the world today is Remembrance day, a time of solemn reflection n'all, but we in Korea choose to celebrate the much more upbeat Pepero day instead - quite possibly the most commercial national holiday I've ever come across. Pepero is the name of a long chocolate-covered biscuity confection. Somehow, their manufacturer, Lotte, masters of Korea (they're behind everything) have managed to successfully push forth a national (albeit unofficial) day into the public consciousness. It seems to be much like valentine's day, but really just for kids, and instead of cards, all the shops have been selling special packs of Peperos with hearts and flowers blazened across the packaging. Really bizarre. Oh, and it's November 11th as the date (11/11) looks like four Pepero sticks. Likewise, the Corduroy Appreciation Club celebrate Corduroy Appreciation Day because it's the date that most resembles corduroy. You can't make this stuff up. In other news (if you're still reading) the SEV exodus officially began today, with Shawn and Melody of Canada being transferred down to Suwon (three hours away) to finally start the jobs they came here to do two months ago. Their apartment was the official gaming headquarters around here. On at least six nights out of seven, it'd be a fare bet that there'd be a card or dice game of some sort going on over at their place, so they'll certainly be missed. Emma leaves in exactly a fortnight, and Shannon will be leaving just after my birthday, so it's all gonna feel very strange around these parts come Christmas. Also, I have a sore throat. This would've been more newsworthy yesterday when I was actually off work because of it (and related symptoms) but there you go.