Green tea trip and things on my mind lately

This past weekend we hit the three-months-left-in-Korea mark. I can't really believe that I've been here for 9 months and made it through three-quarters of my time here, it just feels like it all went by too fast. Now, with only three months left, I'm constantly thinking about what's next. The thought of leaving the comforts of life here are a little scary: my great apartment, a fairly easy job, good money, culture, food, interesting people, etc. At least I know that my travels after Korea will provide enough excitement to get over it pretty quickly. With all of this thinking and anticipation, I've come to one conclusion: stop it! Stop worrying about what's three, six months down the line, and enjoy the present. Enjoy today and the next three months, and the rest is going to work itself out. I'm happy here, so I might as well soak it up while I can!


That being said, Lex and I have continued making checks on the "To Do" list. A week ago, we went to the green tea plantation in Bosung, and although we spent approximately 8 hours of the 24 hour journey on a bus, 10 sleeping, and only 6 actually experiencing the sights, we both agreed that it was totally worth it. We left on Friday right after school and hopped on a 4-hour bus cross-country (yes, you can make it across the entire country in less than 4 hours). At about 10 o'clock at night we were dropped off in a quiet, little village and planned to catch a cab to a near by hostel. But when we saw that there were several motels right around the bus station, we decided to check them out first. We picked the one that had the most cars, thinking that it was probably the most popular with the Koreans (always go where the locals go). Turns out, the place looked nice and new and they offered it to us for only $30 for the night! Happy as Koreans eating kimchi, we settled into our comfy little room- complete with a real shower! -and got some much needed rest.



On Saturday morning we were up early and at the green tea plantation by 9:30 a.m. Our first stop was to get a green tea latte, which was so delicious, and we then spent the morning wandering around the plantations and taking in the luscious, green rolling hills of green tea. It was truly a unique sight. I think my friend Rebecca described it best when she said it looked straight out of Alice in Wonderland. And unlike in Busan, we were the only foreigners at the plantation (actually we hadn't seen any others since we left Busan), so we had a lot of children and even some adults coming up to us curiously and trying to practice their English. It was fun. After a few hours of exploring, it was time for lunch and we were excited to check out the specialties dishes. We settled on green tea sungyupsal. Sungyupsal is korean barbeque with pork and you basically cook the pork on a grill and then wrap the meat in a lettuce leaf, adding sauces and different types of kimchi. This meat was doused with green tea powder and all of the sides and sauces incorporated the plant as well. It was everything we expected and more. The only thing that could make our experience any better was topping it off with some dessert. You guessed, green tea ice cream! After a long morning full of lots of sight seeing, stair climbing and indulging, we headed back on the bus and made it home just in time to go out on Saturday night. It was the perfect little trip and coming back on Saturday actually made the weekend feel so much longer!








On the way home, we got to talking again about leaving Korea. We talked about things at home that we were excited to have again (good sandwiches, English signage, cheese), about things we'll miss from Korea, and then we realized something that was pretty much inevitable; we had probably picked up a few new habits that we would be taking home with us whether we liked it or not. Here is the list we came up with, just to prepare you all so you're not so surprised by any slightly odd behavior.




8 Korean Customs I'm Likely to Take Home with Me (sorry couldn't think of 2 more to make it 10):


8. Adding an "ee" to the end of many words such as changee, beachee, fishee, etc. It has become so ingrained in us to use these words or else we won't be understood.
7. Not speaking during meals. Koreans tend to be very quiet when eating (so long as soju is not involved).
6. Sharing meals. Koreans share everything, and food is no exception. From sandwiches to meat dishes to even, I kid you not, soup, Koreans put their food in the center of the table and share. And I've come to really like it that way!
5. Thinking most food that doesn't have red peppers or wasabi is bland. There's even a bakery in my neighborhood called Bland!
4. Not tipping, oops! This is one habit I know I better break at home, but I will sincerely miss the days of keeping my extra dollar at the bar or not having to factor in the tip when eating with large groups at restaurants. It sure is nice!
3. Using scissors instead of knives at meals. That's right, at a table in Korea you will find that each person has chopsticks and a spoon, and a communal pair of scissors is used to cut the meat. Sounds strange, but we've decided that it's a great thing!
taking my shoes off in the house
2. No shoes allowed. Taking off my shoes and slipping into a nice pair slippers when entering a home, school, and even many restaurants is a comfy and greatly satisfying habit that I would really like to hold on to.

And the number one habit that I will have trouble parting with when I arrive home from Korea is...

1. Bowing! The bow/head nod has become so ingrained in me that I often find myself doing it to western friends and vice versa. We all agree, it's gonna be a tough one to break. So before you decide to laugh and make fun of the weird, awkward habits I picked up in Korea, remember habits are easier to form than they are to break. Have a little sympathy and patience, it could take at least a year!