First of all, let me tell you Korea is the Land of Couples!
If there is one thing celebrated more than Kimchi, I would say it’s couples. Sadly, this is not a rant from a single girl living here,
it’s a fact of life when you have lived in the Land of the Morning Calm.
So, April 14 is Black Day. The one day for single folk - who are called ’solo’.
It is the day that singles (read: solos) are supposed to get together with other solos and eat jjajangmyeon. Jjajangmyeon is the Korean form of Chinese black bean noodles. It’s dark both in color and flavor, but really good. I am told that it’s either an acquired taste or something that you either like or hate. And it is THE food for us singles on this special ‘Black Day’.
Sadly, I was not able to partake of the jjajangmyeon and the company of my fellow solo friends - the day almost passed unnoticed until another solo friend mentioned that it was, in fact, April 14th and thus, Black Day.
It makes me wonder…White Day and Valentine’s Day and Christmas Day and all the other couple days (most of which usually happen on the 14th of each month) are so hyped…literally…but, what happened to Black Day? If you’re a single in Korea,
something is wrong and that needs to be remedied. I was super shocked and a little bit annoyed that Christmas day is a couples’ day here. No joke…when you ask people about Christmas - they say…’Oh it’s a couples’ day. It is so sad if you are solo. We say you should stay home and watch Home Alone‘. Umm…no thanks.
It makes me feel a teensie bit better that wikipedia has something about it…even if it is a super short blurb : Black Day
I will leave you with a picture of jjajangmyeon…because really, what else does a solo gal like me have?
Okay…I was going to post a picture of jjajangmyeon…but I can’t find a good one. AND..while this post may seem bitter, it’s not. I’m just plain amused.
