Paepaero

Here is a funny exchange I just had with a Korean:


Me: "Samantha, how do you spell Paepaero?"


Samantha: "Pae..."


Me: "What?"


Samantha:"Pae...Pae...Ro"


Me: "One more time"


Samantha: Pae...Pae...Write this down...Ro. Maybe* Pae Pae Lo sounds better.


Me: PaePaeRo or PaePaeLo?


Samantha: PaePaeRo.


So as you can see sometimes you have to be patient. Remember, Korean's say their B's and P's remarkably similar, so the whole time in my head I thought that this was Baebaero day. B's and P's are similar phonetically, so I can understand this mistake. They also say l's and r's the same, and I have no idea why those letters are hard for them.





*Maybe. This is one of the most commonly used words by Koreans. They use it to begin half their sentences. It has different meaning too. I have yet to fully grasp all the meanings that maybe can connotate. Sometimes it means yes, sometimes no, sometimes it's what they want to do, "Maybe, go to Seoul Pub and then Lofts." and sometimes it's what they think you want to hear, "Maybe, fried chicken." I don't get it.





Needless to say, I am not very confident that I spelled this holiday correctly. Paepaero is a cracker stick coated in chocolate. This holiday was set up by a company every 11/11 to sell more chocolate. This is a brilliant marketing device, but pretty shameless at the same time. I felt conflicted buying these chocolate sticks for Meg. On one hand, I want to take part in Korean culture, but I don't really like the concept of this particular holiday. It's like Valentine's Day, you exchange crackers with crushes and friends.



Okay, Samantha just brought over a box of the candy coated sticks, it's PePeRo. She claims, "it's spelled wrong." Translation can be a fickle thing, but I am siding with Lotte on this one, Samantha.



Think about this: every major holiday is consumer driven. If it's not consumer driven then it's not a real popular holiday. Christmas you buy gifts, Thanksgiving you buy food, Halloween you buy candy, Valentine's Day (Mother's and Father's Day too) you go out to eat, Easter you buy crap, and even holidays like Labor and Memorial day you go on a vacation or have a BBQ. Martin Luther King's day, Veteran's Day, and Earth Day are holidays off the top of my head that aren't consumer driven. These holiday's have great reasons for existence, they just don't get a lot of attention. Okay, that's the rambling thought of the month.



Meg is doing great work with her "side hustle". She has about six candidates lined up. I think she really likes recruiting. She loves it here, and I think her enthusiasm rubs off on others. It is remarkable really, in about ten days she has 6 recruits! Keep it up Meg and you can buy me a computer for Christmas! It might also have something to do with the current conditions in America too. I read that it takes around five months for the average unemployed job seeker to find employment. College loans start up in 6 months so that's cutting it pretty close.


This weekend Meg and I are going to see the 9th best DJ in the world, according to DJ Mag. This should be an interesting experience. I have NEVER been a real club guy, but I have never been to a rave either! Here is his website.

Lastly here is pic of a Pepero stand.