South Korea Hangul Day By Sharon Schweitzer South Korea Hangul Day, also known as Korean Alphabet Day, is observed annually on October 9th. It’s a national holiday to commemorate the invention and proclamation of the Korean alphabet, known as Hangul (or Hangeul). It’s also celebrated in North Korea on January 15th as ‘Chosun-gul’ [...]
National German-American Day By Sharon Schweitzer and Polina Anastassieva This German-U.S. American heritage holiday commemorates the thirteen German-Mennonite families from Krefeld who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, On October 6th, 1683, these families established the first German settlement in the original thirteen colonies. They named it Germantown. It was during these early years of [...]
World Sake Day By Sharon Schweitzer World Sake Day, or Nihonshu no Hi, started in 1978 when Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (J.S.S.) designated October 1st as a day of sake celebration. The day is also to salute the people involved in sake production — the rice farmers and brewery workers. The [...]
National Coffee Day By Sharon Schweitzer People from around the world love their coffee. But the U.S. drinks more coffee than any nation. The typical American adult drinks 2.7 cups of coffee a day. One hundred-fifty million Americans drink 400 million cups of coffee per day and that amounts to 140 billion cups [...]
World Tourism Day By Sharon Schweitzer Tourism has been a part of the human experience as long as there have been distant places to go and experience. It was originally the province of the wealthy, with travel being difficult and expensive, but it afforded opportunities to learn new languages, experience different cuisines, and [...]
European Day of Languages By Sharon Schweitzer In 1997, the idea of organizing a campaign to convince the general public of the importance of learning more languages was born. This idea arose at the conference on Language learning for a new Europe, which launched the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (C.E.F.R.) [...]
National Chai Day By Sharon Schweitzer National Chai Day is celebrated in India on September 21st each year to celebrate the unique flavors of chai, also known as masala chai. Chai, which means “tea” in many languages, has its roots in South Asia, particularly in countries such as India, Pakistan, and Nepal. It [...]
Mid-Autumn Moon Festival By Sharon Schweitzer What has three names and celebrates the moon? Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhongqiu Jie (中秋节) in Chinese, is also called the Mooncake Festival or the Moon Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar — or on September 17th this year. Since [...]
National Rice Month By Sharon Schweitzer We celebrate National Rice Month throughout the entire month of September. With over 40,000 kinds that grow on every continent, except in Antarctica, what a way to discover as many varieties as possible! The history of National Rice Month dates back to 1991 when President George H.W. [...]
National Bao Day By Sharon Schweitzer National Bao Day is celebrated on August 22nd every year. It’s a day to savor the deliciousness of the famed dumpling. It’s also a day dedicated to learn more about the bao, also known as ‘baozi’ or ‘hot Asian buns,’ and the culture that surrounds them. Do [...]