 |
| Black Day Noodles {image source} |
What? You don't know about Black Day?
Well, let me tell you a bit. Korea is all about love. In fact, the country seems to be in love with being in love. Despite the Westernization that has occurred in the past few decades which has people marrying later and later, there is still a pervasive couples culture that exists. Being part of a couple is being part of the "in" crowd.
As a result, the country has a hysterical 13 days devoted to love! Black Day is the antithesis to February's sappy Valentine's Day and gives a shout out to all those that didn't get a fancy box of chocolates.
Black Day is when singles gather together to decry (or celebrate, depending on their situation) their singledom. They dress in black and eat black noodles called Jjajangmyeon. In true Korean fashion, the day is a tongue-in-cheek sort holiday that's a little piteous and a little funny. It's a superficial holiday but it's likely the diners sport a little hope that while they celebrate being single this year, next year they will be celebrating couplehood.
Evidently the black bean noodles stain teeth (always attractive), are notoriously messy to eat (no one to impress anyway) and usually leave the diner's breath reeking of onions and vinegar (they are going home alone anyway).
The rest of the year's couples holidays (all of them are on the 14th, by the way) are back to celebrating couples, through food, gesture, music, photos, or even wearing the color green together and skipping through the woods.
Check out the link to learn more about those super awesome days!
And if you are single today, find yourself a big bowl of black noodles and slurp away.
*****
13 Korean Holidays For Love: http://koreabridge.net/post/black-and-blue-koreans-mend-broken-hearts-black-day-april-14-thejessicasteele
Korea's Black Day: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2013/02/koreas-black-day-when-sad-single-people-get-together-and-eat-only-black-food/
Greeat post thanks
ReplyDelete