Sonja Swanson ETA :: 2010-2011 Seodaejeon Elementary School
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hortly after I arrived at my host family’s home, when we were sitting down for the post-dinner ritual of snacks and TV, a new snack made its way to the living room. Chocopie, as the small, round cake is known, is a decades-old standby on grocery shelves here in Korea. Yet in a stroke of genius, the company that makes Chocopie initiated a brilliant branding campaign that makes a Chocopie more than just a Chocopie. “Do you know what this means?” my host father asked, jabbing a finger at the Chinese character emblazoned on the wrapper. I admitted that I did not. “Jeong,” he responded triumphantly. “Do you know jeong?” I had heard this term defined several times already by this point, but still couldn’t quite explain it in English, much less Korean. I opted for grinning helplessly instead. “Jeong is…” he began, and broke into a grin as well. “Too difficult to explain! Eat, eat.” So I peeled apart the layers of shiny red plastic and took a bite of the chocolate encrusted treat, teeth sinking into the spongy layers, the inevitable crumbs of chocolate littering my lap. I do not particularly care for Chocopies. Nonetheless, by the end of my year, I found myself armed with boxes upon boxes of Chocopie, giving them to my coworkers and thanking them, genuinely, for the jeong that we had built and shared together. It’s a little easier
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| Fulbright ETA Program 20 years in Korea
