Funny story: I was teaching my students about Pi Day. We were talking about students in America and how they make pies and sell them at bake sales, which they don’t really have here. Then at the end of class I asked some follow-up questions.
The last question was “What kind of pie do you like?” And I got many answers like chocolate pie, apple pie, walnut pie. Finally as we were wrapping up, this teeny little girl raises her hand and very seriously says “Wai pie”. I was confused and kept saying what? and she kept repeating until slowly the other students understood what she said and started laughing.
At this point, I am the one looking lost at the Korean teacher, while she herself is trying to decipher what she meant. Finally she let’s out a loud laugh, and says to me “Wi-fi! Wi-fi, haha!”. This is super funny if you know that Koreans have a hard time pronouncing “f” so they will say “Wi-pi” for the wireless internet. What a nice witty surprise to end the day.
This past weekend in Korea, men were scurrying around trying to buy last-minute presents for their sweethearts. White Day is a response to Valentine’s Day, a day that women give chocolate to men here in Korea. It originally started in Japan in 1978 and has since then evolved to jewelry being given instead of the more expensive candies given to women on this day.
I‘ve heard some prefer to give white chocolate or marshmallows to commemorate the name of the holiday, but I’m guessing the women would disagree ^^ Just another reason to shop. Can’t wait to see what next month’s Black Day will feature in stores. That’s Singles Day btw. So in Korea, obsessed with couples and love, maybe they’ll be giving away cats…at least 10 in a package for those who passed the threshold into the land of Old Maids. Ha I jest, I jest.
There was just one class who were intrigued to know if I had gotten anything for White Day, which I played off as I had no idea what they were talking about because it amuses me as much as them to see them be so interested in my love life. What I forgot to mention is this wee little semi-holiday that some celebrate in America on 3/14 and that is Pi Day. There’s even an official website. Schools across America celebrate Pi Day, ironically the same day commemorating this guy’s bday:
In honor of Pi Day, NewsFeed spoke to David Blatner, author of The Joy of Pi, where he shares his joy for the mystifying number sequence:
“..we’ve made quite a bit of progress in being able to define Pi.We’re getting closer and closer but there will never be an answer. A thousand years ago, we knew a few digits of Pi. Somewhere in the 20th century, we started getting into the thousands of digits. In the past hundred years, we’ve gone from thousands to millions of digits, and now the world record is in the trillions. That’s kind of amazing.”
So while girls here in Korea are wondering what their significant other will be bringing them as a devotion of their love, kids and math/science enthusiasts in America celebrate the mystery of pi while scarfing down real pies and celebrating the joys of science and math. So I leave you with a famous Pi Song from YouTube and Pi recipes to click on:
From Korea With Love 