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Korean Student Association celebrates Pepero Day, brings students together

November 12, 2014

As their lips moved closer and closer to each other, they tried to keep themselves from breaking out in laughter while trying to avoid eye contact. Looking from afar, people who passed by the Room 201 in the International Center wouldn’t have guessed that students were doing this as a part of a cultural emersion experience.

Students gathered Tuesday night to celebrate Pepero Day, which some compare to Valentine’s Day.

During this day, people typically play a game in which two people stand with a pepero stick, similar to a pocky stick, between them. They have to keep biting at opposite ends of it without touching each other’s lips. The winner is the one with the smallest piece of the pepero stick left.

“That’s always a fun thing, it’s always fun seeing people’s reactions,” said Stephen Young-Jin Wilson, president of Korean Student Association.

Comparative cultures and politics freshman and association intern Alana Labelle-Hahn said the experience was awkward.

“I had never heard of this before,” Labelle-Hahn said. “I’d say it’s very different.”

Anthropology and Chinese sophomore Ashley Rall said she wouldn’t imagine having such a game during an American holiday because people would probably be shy.

According to Korean tradition, Pepero Day is celebrated on 11/11 because the 11s resemble the pepero sticks.

Organization event coordinator Yoon-Gi Kim said the holiday is a newer tradition generally celebrated by teenagers and young adults.

“They didn’t have it back in the day in Korea or in Asian countries — it’s kind of just recent,” Kim said.

The student group hosted the event as part of its last Korean coffee hour of the semester. The association partnered for the first time this year with the Korean Language Program to host five coffee hours this semester.

This was the first year the student organization teamed up with the Korean Language Program to host the coffee hours.

The association prides itself in being a Korean-American student organization promoting Korean culture, Wilson said. Students who want to get involved with the group or serve on the executive board don’t have to be Korean or of Korean descent.

“Actually I’d say only 50 percent of our e-board right now is actually of Korean descent,” Wilson said. “It’s really just anyone who is interested in Korean culture and if you happen to be Korean, that’s obviously a plus, but you don’t have to be Korean.”

Assistant professor of Korean Ok-Sook Park said the coffee hours offer cultural exposure to students studying Korean that can’t be incorporated into classes because of time constrains.

“It’s good for students because you can’t complete a language program without knowing the culture,” Park said.

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