April
4/10 South Korea Congress Election day
In South Korea, Congress Election is held every 4 years, and Presidential election every 5 years. this is a official holiday in South Korea.
4/19 The April Revolution (1960)
This is a historical date that commemorates an important South Korean student movement fighting for democracy. After the Korean war, Syngman Rhee was appointed as the first president of The Republic of Korea in 1948 but was later met with the nation’s outrage, first from his authoritarianism during his term, and finally his rigged reelection in 1960, which triggered the 4/19 revolution. A majority of the protesters were university students that demanded democracy. The protests were violently suppressed and intensified further after a student protestor was found dead. At the end of the protests, Syngman Rhee resigned and the Second Republic of Korea began.
GaeNaRi (개나리) Flower
the flora of South Korea serves as a marker of the four, distinct and beautiful seasons. One of them is this Gaenari, which is one of the most prominent flowers to start blooming early in the spring, and can be seen all over the parks and schools of South Korea.
maybe because they bloom in the spring near the schools, Gaenari also is associated with the new spring semester for grade school children.
There is a funny and random folklore about this Genari flower as well:
Once upon a time in Korea, a monk went around town to beg for alms. When he got to a big mansion of a rich man, the rich family threw him out, saying that “we don’t even have dog poop for you here!” When he went to a poor person’s home on the other hand, the poor family didn’t hesitate to give him a generous portion of rice. to thank them, the monk made the poor family a woven basket and disappeared. This woven basket was no ordinary basket though, because to the family’s surprise, the basket magically refilled itself with rice. With the abundance of rice, the poor family was no longer living in poverty, and was made rich. The rich family heard about this and became very jealous. so when the monk came around the following year, the rich man promptly donated rice to the monk, expecting a basket as well. The monk indeed made the rich man another woven basket. But “AIKU!!” said the rich man, when he saw that the basket was magically filling up with dog poop instead. The man went and buried this poop basket under a bridge, and from that bridge sprouted bright yellow, beautiful flowers in the spring, called Gaenari.
One-Pan Bibimbap Recipe (for one)
Ingredients
Eggplants, onions, shredded carrots, bell peppers, and your choice of vegetables
mixed greens
1 egg
1 bowl of cooked white rice (short grain)
1 Tbsp gochujang
1 tsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soysauce
heat a large pan (this is a on-pan recipe!) and put some oil.
first, add the eggplants and lightly salt it. Then stir fry for 2 minutes. push to the side of the pan, let it cook on the side
add the onions, and lightly salt, stir fry for 2 minutes and push to the side.
then proceed to do the same for the bell peppers, other veggies of your choice (add the tougher veggies first so it cooks for longer on the side)
once the veggies are cooking, make some space and add some more oil for a fried egg. fry the egg (4-5 minutes) to your liking
while the egg is cooking, mix the gochujang, honey, sesame oil, and soysauce
top the bowl of rice with mixed greens (roughly cut smaller with shears), stir-fried veggies, fried egg and add the gochujang sauce to taste. (I start with a few teaspoons, add more if I’m in the mood for spicy)
mix and enjoy!
