Children's Day. May 5. Again with the Love Day reference, this holiday is dedicated to the cute little monsters that plague the countryside and cities. It was founded by the Korea's answer to Dr. Seuss back in 1923. Its fascination by well-written foreigners knows no limits. Pack up the aspirin because it's going to be a long day... Thought Korean kids were spoiled? Today you are so right. Today, Korean children are calling the shots. Highways packed, zoos overcrowded, ice cream screaming for its life...poor little vanilla never had a chance...there will be sweets consumed today. Oh yes. There will be sweets. Speaking of spoiled, it might benefit everyone to take a moment and analyze why exactly this is the case. I mean, by... Show more

화이트데이. I'm not entirely comfortable with the name of this holiday. I mean, I'm probably absolutely looking too far into the name of White Day as something bad, but I digress. Actually, in a different ranting vein, seems that all the holidays on the 14th of each month are kind of like Love Day. White day is another one of these holidays seemingly made by the chocolate companies in order to entice people to buy sweets and candies. On this particular demi-holiday, men give chocolate sweets to their girlfriends to let them know nothing has changed and you're still just as cute as you were the day we met although now that i think about it you don't try as much anymore, you make me feel bad for hanging out with my drinking buddies, and... Show more

삼일 운동 (만세운동). Two days ago was a very important holiday for Korea. Like most nations, many historically important holidays mark a day that symbolizes a particular feeling or thought. In Texas, we have the Battle of the Alamo. This was a tragic military loss in every sense of the word during the Texas Revolution. Yes, a failure - the well-trained Mexican army outnumbered the beleaguered defenders 10 to 1. In fact, Mexican Army General Santa Anna even gave the defenders a chance to surrender. If you know Texas, then you can guess which finger the defenders raised in response. Essentially, the Mexican army ended up slaughtering just about everyone inside. However, this seemingly foolish decision to fight the organized Mexican army ended... Show more

설날 is where it's at. Hey, it wouldn't be KoreanClass101 without a culture class on this holiday. You might be wondering why this new year is not on the same day as our traditional new years party in the West. Because just like all other complicated math concepts in Korea, this holiday is based on the lunar calendar and not the solar calendar. The solar calendar is what we receive in the mail for free from the ASPCA and the like. The lunar calendar is what changes from year to year. Here's a 2009 list of solar and lunar holidays in Korea. So, if it seems like Koreans were late to your New Years party by a few weeks, that's the problem. Plus, solar new year is not as big of a deal in many Asian countries, not just Korea (excluding... Show more