October 24th is "Apple Day" in Korea. According to some of my students, this is the day when people are supposed to apologize to someone and present them with an apple. They tell me that it was initiated around ten years ago by parents. Apparently, there was an alarmingly high rate of teen suicides linked to conflicts at school (or conflicts with their friends?). It is known as "Apple Day" because the Korean word 사과 (sagwa) means both "apple" and "apology."
I asked my students if they gave out any apples and apologies, and they replied with a resounding, "No!"
I personally would be open to forgiving people if they brought me an Apple...computer.
Apple Day shares the date with United Nations Day. Not sure if that's all coincidence, but be sure to give peace and forgiveness a shout out on the 24th of October.
Perhaps the U.S. needs to take up this tradition and designate a new holiday, "Forgiving Day." On this day of apologies, people will feel obliged to seek forgiveness and collect cans of beets and tuna on behalf of homeless shelters; ABC will air a new, very special Charlie Brown episode, where Lucy begrudgingly offers Brown an apology; and Walmart sponsors a nationally televised parade of floats and balloons in New York City, including an extravagant concoction of disco balls and sparkles, sponsored by Geico, featuring Lindsay Lohan, belting a pop version of that song that goes, "I'm sorry, so sorry..." This would also be a good time for the U.S. to make amends with the rest of the world, and apologize for any, of course, alleged crimes against the international community.
Instead of turkey, we shall eat pork and apple pie.
Also, unrelatedly, I got this adorable little 떡 (dduk) cake, rice-cake cake from work. I hadn't eaten it for the past couple of days, because it's so darn cute. It tastes like a dense, sticky white bread, with a bit of extra sugar.
Happy Forgiving Day!
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