JIRISAN NATIONAL PARK ON PEPERO DAY
Pepero is a stick-like cookie dipped in cholocate. It's exactly like Pocky.
Pepero Day is November 11th (11/11). Pepero Day came into being because the makers of Pepero decided since November 11th looked like a bunch of Pepero they would invent a Valentine's Day-like holiday called Pepero Day where you give Pepero to your friends and a person you may have a crush on. (Note: They also have Valentine's Day).
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| Pepero Day! |
To begin our 3 hour journey to Jirisan, Kelsey and I distributed Pepero to strangers on the streets of Jinju (previously visited during the Lantern Festival here), where we had our first of 3 bus layovers. Some took the Pepero with smiling grace, notably an especially cute grandmother, and other rigidly denied the sweet treat.
From Ulsan, we had an hour layover in Hadong, which is a small town that has not much of anything really.
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| Hadong |
From there we took the long bus-ride to Jirisan. Jirisan is a National Park and is one of the most beautiful places in Korea. Its full of natural beauty, autumn colors, miles of mountain hiking and is home to many beautiful temples.
Here are some photos from one of Jirisan's many beautiful temples
After visiting the temple, we continued up to the top of the mountain.
We made it to the top.
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| Notice the orange colored hillside |
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| Notice the orange colored hillside |
And then our final destination: A beautiful waterfall.
AND LASTLY... A PEPERO DAY MIRACLE!!
Feeling in good spirits as we were walking down the mountain, Kelsey and I wished random people we crossed paths with a Happy Pepero Day. There was a car in the parking lot that was excitedly waving to us, presumably because out in the country they don't see many foreigners. We wished them a Happy Pepero Day. Then this woman held up her hand, indicating she wanted us to stop, she quickly hopped out of her car with a Pepero Basket which she excitedly gave to us. We had to capture the moment. I eventually gave the Pepero to my students. It was a Pepero Day Miracle!
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| Happy Pepero Day |
That was actually the second Pepero Day Miracle... The first was that my wallet lay untouched in the arcade for the entire hour that we went exploring.
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