How Korea serves green tea

This is just one example to give an idea of how Koreans serve green tea, which is 녹차 (pronounced nok cha) in Korean. Tea bags are never used in restaurants (only on occasion). They typically have a slot in the tea pot to seep the tea leaves. If it is an individual cup, you often remove that to drink but in a pot (like this instance) not always.

Honestly, this one is probably the neatest I've had so far --I've never had a timer before! This one was of really good quality too, as it did not have grains added to it as many places here do for some reason. It is one of the things I may never understand is why they must ruin (in my opinion) such perfect quality tea.

Korea's love for sweet potatoes

One thing I've noticed (and like) about Korea is their seemingly mild obsession with sweet potatoes. Not only are there sweet potato lattes and pork cutlet filled with sweet potato, but you can also find it at any 7eleven in a snack form like this one.

Gift from kindergartener

Here are flowers I received from a student after their kindergarten graduation. They are a little old now but still pretty!

A Sauna Experience

Oh Korea -- the lovely mountains, the delicious food, the convenient public transportation... yes, the public transportation is quite convenient.  However, when you think that nearly 50,000,000 people are living on this peninsula (actually that is only on HALF of this peninsula) you realize that they really have no other choice.  Considering the amount of people as well as considering that 25% of the whole world's population is living between the countries of China, Korea, and Japan, needless to say -- there's a lot of pollution and sometimes you can be reminded of the pollution through things like, well, acne.

I'm certainly not the only foreigner that has had this complaint, so it is clearly a matter of our change in environment.  I had tried several different products and some slight diet changes to see if this would make a change, but I had seemed to have no luck.  I was recommended by some peers to start going to the sauna twice a week.  Apparently several foreigners had a positive result and told me they had never had such good skin in their life.  So, I decided to start this weekly routine.

Now, to first explain sauna's in Korea -- it is not like any sauna you would go to in a western civilization.  Keep in mind that Koreans have this big "community" focus so they like to do, well, everything together as "one"... in this case that means (yep, you guessed it): to bath together.

Now, don't get the impression that they're necessarily "washing" one another (now that would probably cross a line) but this does mean that you basically walk around unclothed and use the heated room, showers, baths, hot tubs, etc.  If we had these in America, I'm sure most people would be uncomfortable sitting bare in a hot tub with their neighbor, but this is really normal here.

I can't say that I was necessarily uncomfortable in any of my visits (okay MAYBE the first time a little) but the part that always intrigues me about going is all the things I see these Koreans doing.  Today I was sitting in the heated room in an attempt to sweat enough to hopefully clear my skin, when a Korean comes in the room and sits on the floor.  She proceeds to sit in "lotus pose" and do a few "yoga-style" stretches.  As I watch her, I feel a bit like I should perhaps show some of my little yoga moves as well but, then again, who I am to kid?  Being an Asian, she likely knows a heck of a lot more about yoga and oriental medicine than I've ever been exposed to in my life.  This continues as I then migrate to the green tea bath to cool off and I have another Korean flapping her legs around a bit in what appears to help with circulation (perhaps?).

I will admit, this is the frustrating part about living in a foreign country and not knowing the language because I can't ask questions like  "What is that?", "What is that for?", "Why is that used?", etc. and even if I did know how to ask those few questions, I would have to know enough Korean to understand the answer.

The other things I've seen that has intrigued me a bit during my sauna experiences have been the face masks.  There is a worker always in the dressing room who makes facial masks completely from natural materials using eggs, cucumbers, honey, green tea, and other things that I'm not even aware of.  The last thing that I noticed was how some Korean women will put little "cups" on their back or stomach while in the sauna and bathing area, leave them on for a while, and then take them off.  I'm not sure if this is supposed to help with releasing toxins or what but maybe I will find out someday.

Recipes of 2 new favorite foods

I've written a recent article of two recipes of my newly favorite foods (that are gluten-free!).  One recipe is for bibimbop (Korean) and the other is Pad Pak (Thai).  You can find the article: http://voices.yahoo.com/delicious-ethnic-recipes-gluten-free-10891729.html

Thailand - New Years 2012

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Which life is better?

Light-colored sand, crystal clear blue water, and the warm sun -- this is how I spent the week of my winter vacation.  Just by viewing a picture or two, one can easily see the natural beauty of Thailand's coasts and islands.

After a few days at Koh Samet island and observing the lives of Thais, I couldn't help but wonder: Do these islanders have it better?  These Thai people lived simple lives with simple jobs.  Some gave massages and facials, while others made jewelry.  Some cooked and served food at restaurants, while others sold fruit on the beach.

When I mentioned this thought to the friend that I was traveling with, she quickly said, "But why do many try to leave here then?  Why are there mail-order brides?  The trouble is that they can't ever leave."

I sat and reflected on this a bit.  Despite reflecting on her statements, a part of me still couldn't help but believe that the life of an islander is still better.  As I watched them going about their daily activities, I saw that their lives were not congested with empty material things -- fancy house, cell phones, TV, designer clothes, etc.  When I imagined having a life like that, I couldn't help but wish I had that same simplicity.

After our four days at Koh Samet island, we traveled back to Bangkok to celebrate the New Year.

Many people told me before going that Bangkok is a weird city.  I will admit that it is pretty unique, but I didn't feel that it was weird in a bad way, but in a good way.  You still had large malls and name brand material items, but it wasn't "ritzy".  The amount of materialism wasn't as pronounced.  In fact, it was quite obvious that the city still had a good portion of poverty and that the city was still developing -- gradually.  In this regard, I suppose that I felt that it was more authentic and genuine than most cities in this world.

As a foreigner visiting Bangkok, perhaps the frustrating part of being there was the consistent bargaining for all goods and services.  There was also the struggle with dishonesty in when those goods and services were provided.  These were consistent trends that I saw throughout all of Thailand, but I sensed a stronger drive to earn money on the streets of Bangkok.

Truly, I can't blame them.  After all, every society and country had bargaining and dishonesty (to some extent) as their economy was developing.  It is human nature to act in such a way when in such living conditions.  We believe that our material possessions are never good enough, so we react in hurting one another.

With that thought in mind, I look back to the developed countries of the world -- such as the United States.  The US is one of the top leading economies in the world, but are the people who live their satisfied?  No.  Instead we seek to find happiness in empty material things such as name brand clothes, a brand new car, or a new house.

So which life is better?

Personally, I'd still choose the life of an islander -- eating delicious fruits and delectable Thai food every day without ever needing to be surrounded by such man-made physical illusions for happiness.

After all, how could you not appreciate seeing this every day?