Nut Eating Day

Yesterday was Nut Eating Day here in Korea. As the name implies, you were supposed to eat nuts. I had this fact forced on me when I stopped at shop in the food court that sells Pizza, Coffee, and Soft Serve Ice Cream (what a combination). I ordered an ice cream cone, and while I was waiting I noticed they had the little plastic coffee stirring sticks. I've been looking for these, and couldn't find them anywhere. I asked the ladies behind the counter where they bought them. They asked why I needed them, and I explained for my office. Suddenly one lady began climbing up a ladder to some storage shelves, and the other lady got out a thick binder full of documents and began searching. Well, turns out they were going to sell me one package of these sticks, because they have so many. One lady was getting a package from storage, and the other lady was looking up the price in her book of receipts.
I now have enough stirring sticks to last me a decade or more:



As I was paying for this, I noticed a large basket on the counter containing individual bags of peanuts in the shell. Each bag had a walnut, too. The ladies starting saying something to me in Korean which I couldn't understand. It seemed that they were insisting that I buy some nuts. I kept saying that I didn't want any nuts, and finally they opened one of the bags and gave me a big handful of nuts at no charge. Later in the day, CH was munching on the peanuts, and explained to me that it was Nut Eating Day. Apparently it is the first full moon in January of the lunar calendar. Later I asked one of my friends about "Nut Eating Day", which was misunderstood as "Not Eating Day".... Do I need a diet?