When you hold freshly pulled garaetteok in your hand, it's warm and soft. Steam rises in wisps, and the nutty smell of rice drifts up. On the same day, at convenience stores, you hear the crisp sound of snack boxes. It's November 11th. A foreign student asked, "Why do people give snacks and eat rice cakes on this day?" That's what they asked. ## The Day the Number 11 Became Soil November 11 is Farmers' Day. In Chinese characters, it's written 十一月十一日. If you stack 十 and 一 on top of each other, they form the character for soil, 土. Farming begins with the soil, so this day was chosen. It's a wordplay that finds meaning in the shapes of numbers. ## Two Long, Thin Things When four number 1s stand side by side, they look like long sticks. So it became a day for exchanging Pepero, the stick-shaped snack. There are several stories about how Pepero Day came about, so it's hard to point to just one. Meanwhile, on Farmers' Day, there is also an event encouraging people to eat garaetteok, long rice cakes made from rice. It means eating lots of our rice and thanking the farmers. So it's also called "Garaetteok Day." Grilled garaetteok is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. It's sweet when you dip it in jocheong or honey. ## Things You Can Do on This Day Convenience stores and supermarkets are piled high with Pepero. Buy garaetteok at your local rice cake shop and try grilling it in a frying pan. You can check local events on the city hall or NongHyup website. When you hand over a box of snacks, take a moment to think about the rice and the soil, too.