Veterans or Pepero?

While 11/11 may indicate Veterans Day in the US, it is based on the fighting that ended World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. In my History classes we are currently covering topics of ancient history. Recently I was presenting information to students regarding Pepin who was appointed King of the Germanic tribes by the Pope. There was mention in the book of one of the Kings led the tribes into war against the Arabs and as the students often do ask questions we quickly were off topic. The discussion led to current events and as people thought that World War I was the war to end all wars, not much has been resolved. In another point to students I pointed out that the two conflicts the US is currently involved in are somewhat based on differences in ideology. In contrast to Eastern religions it can be debated that Christianity and Islam both are based on violent history. Religion and ideology are two major topics people are willing to fight and die for and not much has changed 1500 years after the Franks fought the Arabs.

During WWI Korea was under Japanese occupation. When that ended the country could thrive on its own and people could once again identify as Korean. In the 1980's a holiday of sorts was created called Pepero day. Now instead of being Valentines day or Sweetest Day this is a day where kids buy one kind of candy, produced by the Lotte Corporation, and give them out to friends, classmates, homeless people, pregnant women and teachers. Pepero is essentially a cookie in the shape of a stick and it is dipped in chocolate. They are really good to stir into your coffee. The green box shows the almond covered ones, these are by far the best!
Some parents went the extra mile and we were given homemade pepero, but I think this is a travesty to the holiday! That's almost as bad as giving out homemade Valentines day cards to everyone in class!
By the end of yesterday I was all Peperoed out and promised the kids I would run an extra mile for them tonight. I had fun with cork board instead.