May 5th was Children's Day in South Korea. It is a national holiday so schools and many businesses were closed for the day, and I didn't have to work. Besides a nice, random Wednesday holiday in early May, what is Children's Day?
It's a day for busy families to spend time together and appreciate the youngest members of society. Typically, families go to amusement parks, zoos, beaches, and restaurants. The weather in May is really nice, making the outdoors a great option for Children's Day activities. "Red days" are marked on the Korean calendar as national holidays and are always eagerly anticipated by the over-worked employees and students of South Korean society. While Children's Day is celebrated in other countries, Korea and Japan are among the few that designate it as a national holiday and a day off from work.
This year was the 99th Children's Day in South Korea, but the holiday was first officially recognized in 1970. Originally, Children's Day was designed to change the perception of children from young workers to a vulnerable population in need of protection. While the holiday and festival were suppressed under Japanese occupation, they started again after World War 2 and have been celebrated ever since.
In the spirit of Children's Day, here is a photo of the South Korean President and his wife hosting a video call with a group of elementary school students.
"It is my biggest wish to enable you to play with friends, with masks off, as early as possible," he added. "Let's make efforts together, while abiding by virus control and prevention rules, so that such a day can come as soon as possible." (Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-In).
I teach at two schools and unfortunately, the schedules didn't work to my advantage this time. While Wednesday was the official holiday and I had that day off from work, my main school also had Monday and Tuesday off for a super long holiday. They combined the school's birthday and Children's Day, plus an extra day off for some reason. Painfully for me, I was scheduled to be at my boys' school on Monday and Tuesday because they didn't schedule those days off. So, I had to work and settle for a single holiday on Wednesday. That was more than a little annoying, but still, a random holiday in the middle of the week is better than nothing.
At my boys' school, one teacher promised ice cream to her last-period class on Monday. I thought, at least that would be a nice way to end an otherwise exhausting day that could have been a holiday if the schedule had cooperated. I taught the class for 30 minutes while the teacher ran downstairs to grab the ice cream. When she returned, she said I could go take a rest in the teachers' room. There was no ice cream for me. It was an early Children's Day treat for the kids, not for me.
I had a nice Children's Day moment when I was walking along the road, towards Dadaepo Beach. There were lots of people on the sidewalk. Two young girls were walking behind me and they actually annoyed me at first with a scream (as only young girls can do). I think they saw a dog or something, and they pierced my eardrum from a few feet away. We stopped at the crosswalk, and they decided to talk to me. Very brave, I thought. They said "Hello". I asked them about their school and they said "Elementary school." I guess they were about 6th grade. I explained that I was a middle school teacher and I was from Canada. I think they understood. After each statement, they would check between the two of them to confirm their understanding. They asked where I was going? I pointed and said, "to the beach". They giggled and stammered then said, "too, too, uh, me too." The light changed, they waved and said goodbye and scampered off across the street.
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