Yeot Culture

Yeot is a thick Korean-style syrup - much like corn syrup but less sweet - or in its hard form like a taffy. It is made from a variety of ingredients ... there's rice yeot, daikon (radish) yeot, sweet potato yeot, corn yeot, pumpkin yeot, barley yeot, trichosanthes kirilowii (한을 애기 엿, a Korean medicine) yeot, medicine (양열) yeot, and pheasant yeot which is traditional in Cheju Island. The word "엿" originates from "yit-da" and "yi-oe-ji-da", meaning "connect" and "become connected" respectively, and the uses of yeot can be traced back through the Joseon Dynasty, the Goryeo Dynasty, back to the period of the three states.


Making Yeot Taffy

The making of yeot can be simplified into 8 steps. Sorry, measurements not included in this recipe.

Step 1: Add malt powder to water.
Step 2: After sitting for some time, strain the malt lumps out of the water.
Step 3: Mix cooked white rice in with the strained malt water.
Step 4: Ferment the mixture and strain out the rice.
Step 5: Boil the malt-rice water down until the color becomes a tawny brown.
Step 6: Add ingredients like pine nuts or peanuts and mix together. However, most eye-appealing if nuts on crusted on the outside of the yeot taffy.
Step 7: Spread the malt mixture on a greased tray and allow to cool.
Step 8: Before the mixture hardens, cut into desired shapes.

Yeot Culture Extends Beyond Just Food

My students (Hwang Kyoung Hui and Lee Se Jun) were able to identify as many as 5 cultural meanings of yeot beyond just food - a traditional meaning, a modern-day meaning, and three kinds of insults or negative slang all related to yeot taffy.

The traditional meaning goes back perhaps many centuries and was for wishing good fortune but also having a negative twist. In traditional Confucian times when the woman went to her parents-in-law as a new bride, to her wedding ceremony she would bring yeot which symbolized a stickiness and thus an indirect wish for amicable relations between herself and her mother-in-law. The stickiness of yeot was a suggestion of the feeling of sweetness and stickiness in one's mouth, thus preventing one to talk, and in the bride's case, her inability to talk back to her mother-in-law.

A modern usage of yeot has to do with the homophone 붇다 which means both 'to stick' (the original meaning) and 'to pass', as in 'pass an exam'. Thus, people in modern times give yeot to test-takers as a wish for them to pass the exam, as in "시험에 붇었다 (get permission for the exam) as opposed to "시헙에 떨어지다/떨어짔다" (fail the exam).

Yeot also has slang meanings - three are presented here. The first is related to the Namsadangpae or traveling entertainers, who used vulgar words in their traveling acts targeted to the common people. Somehow through the vulgarity of the traveling entertainers acts yeot came also to be a foul slang for the female's sexual organ.

Another coinage of yeot originated in 1964 during a middle school entrance exam. One of the multiple choice questions asked which kind of plant would make yeot. However, there were two possible answers, the one determined to be correct by the test-makers and the less common answer of "radish juice" (무엿). The students who chose 'radish juice' were marked incorrect causing parents to demonstrate and creating a scandal concerning the competitive exam. Exam-taking periods are taken very seriously in Korea and even today, students born decades after the scandal know the details and are quick to point back to the controversial "무엿과동" (Radish Juice Affair) if they feel a test is unfair.

A final usage of yeot is based on near homophonic sounds of 'yeom' (corpse cleaning and dressing process) and 'yeot'. Perhaps because yeot has been used to keep dead people's mouths closed after death (because of the stickiness), the near homophonic sound of 'yeom' gets articulated into the insult 'yeot' when someone shouts an insult at another. The insult suggests the person died and went to hell.

Clearly yeot is not limited to concepts of just food, as my students Hwang Kyung Hui and Lee Se Jun's presentation demonstrated. The assignment given was to identify an aspect of food in relation to culture in any way, and of the many presentations, this particular one showed most clearly showed that food does not serve the function of feeding one's self for nutrition only, but rather is intimately tied to the culture from which it originated through language, history and belief systems. A very well organized presentation!

Play "The Importance of Being Earnest"

The Cut Glass Theatre proudly presented Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest". Such an extraordinarily funny play based on the trivial importance of middle-class British society of proper nomenclature. The director Gef Somervell states "I only hope we have spoken [Oscar Wilde's] wonderul, intellectually exciting nonsense beautifully enough." Yes, delightfully trivial, down to every detail, but the importance of triviality rules in language, gesture, tone and pause. Well done!

The following comments are taken from the flyer handed out at the door:

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Though he is recognized as one of the greatest playwrights to come out of England, the Oxford-educated Wilde was, in fact, an Irishman. The colour and lilting rhythms of his homeland are strewn through the dialogue of his plays, and the magic of Celtic mythology surely influenced his little-known but beautiful fairy tales and poetry.

Surprisingly, the phrase "little-known" is aptly applied to Wilde. Though readers the world over are familiar with "The Importance of Being Earnest", and with Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, few are aware of the wider body of word that he produced.

By the age of 46, Wilde had written books of fairy tales (The Happy Prince and Other Tales, and House of Pomegranates), a collection of short stories (Lord Arthur Savile's Crimes and Other Stories), essays on topics ranging from aethetics to philosophy (Intentions, De Produndis, and The Soul of Man Under Socialism), several sparkling plays ("Lady Windermere's Fan", "A Woman of No Importance", and "An Ideal Husband"), a novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray), and numerous poems.

Wilde both challenged and fell victim to the harsh social proprieties of his day. He lived a life of unparalleled flair and panache, and gave the world some its most treasured literature. We are honored to speak his lines.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it."

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go."

"Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tradjic."

"It takes a great deal of courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it."

"Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotations."

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

"At twilight, nature is not without loveliness, though perhaps its chief use is to illustrate quotations from the poets."

"The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible."

"To disagree with three-fourths of the British public is one of the first requisites of sanity."

And a quote from Oscar Wilde that summarizes his opinions about the beauty of expression and the force of it (as he so cleverly demonstrated in his play) - "Mere expression is to an artist the supreme and only mode of life. It is by utterance that we live."

Punishment for Rape in Korea

This is my blog and in it are my words or reconstructions of other people's words after listening to lectures and sharing what I learned. However, once in a grand blue moon do I introduce whole texts of writings of others. This following essay was written by one of my students, Ahn Ji Sung, and was a paper filled with great content based on research. The style of writing was compare/contrast, and of the 120 or so papers I received, Ji Sung's struck me as important to understanding about Korea and its social and legal systems that are rapidly changing (and needing to be further changed) as society is more and more affected by the greed of materialism and losing its centuries-old Confucian values which had intrinsicaly become social controls for maintaining "honorable" bahavior. The text is hers in entirity minus two unclear pronoun changes, and has been reproduced here by permission:

"Rape is one of the most serious crimes, and today there is a lot of controversy in Korea over the appropriate degree of punishment for it. Most Koreans think their punishment for sexual assault is relatively weak compared to other foreign countries in regard to three aspects. First, the maximum level of punishment for rape indicates a huge difference between Korea and other countries. Korean sex offenders are generally imprisoned for the maximum of seven years which is too generous considering they can be sentenced to death in China and Yemen, and they might go through surgical castration in Germany. Also, it was not until November 24, 2010 that Korea started to release identities of these sex offenders. Finally, Korea is coming up with issues of punishing child sex offenders. They are generally jailed for four to seven years and get even lighter sentences if they were drunk during the incidents. However, in China, people who are charged with raping children under 14 years old are sentenced to death without any exception. Also, child sex offenders in Britain are sentenced to life in prison regardless of the gravity of the offense and are even imprisoned for 10 years if they just make children see them having sexual relationships. In New Zealand, after being released from prison, those offenders are under police surveillance by GPS system for life and in Malaysia, they are imprisoned for the maximum of 60 years and get five lashes officially."

(unclear conclusion omitted but the content was phenomenal)

KU Girl Killed in Shuttle-bus Accident

Just a couple days ago a Korea University student, Kim Kyung Min, studying in her third year in the Sociology Department after transferring only this past March from Inha University, was killed on campus by a KU shuttle bus. Apparently, as the news came diffused down to me, she was texting with her cell phone and it also seems the shuttle bus driver was momentarily distacted, the combination of which created the unfortunate subsequents events of the girl being hit by the shuttle bus and being dragged behind. Apparently, it was the latter which killed her.


As white is the traditional color for mourning in Korea, on campus yesterday and today, a table to pay respects to the dead has been set up under a white tent near the well populated side entrance of the campus. Those passing the tent can pay their respects and commemorate her passing by bowing, lighting incense sticks from the perpetually burning white candles and lay another white chrysanthemum beside Kyung Min's framed smiling face while making wishes for her passage onward to the next life. The making of wishes is a Korean practice that seems fairly universal across religious disciplines in Korea, but even for those Christians who do not believe in the afterlife, paying silent respect to her and placing the white chrysanthemum is a symbolic gesture of both love and regret. The white chysanthemum is the flower which symbolizes lamentations and grief (or death) and is the funeral flower in Korea unlike the white lily in American society. Today sometime in the afternoon, the young lady's picture, I believe it is her high school graduation shot, was finally added to the white table. People wishing to sign her mourning "guest" book are welcomed, and the book will be passed on to her parents and single sibling to place with among the treasure and cherished memories which Kyung Min left behind.

Oriental Raisin Tree (헛개나무)

My friend, Yoon, and I have been doing cultural sharing on healing herbs and practices in our native countries. I'm fascinated with the oriental herbs and the huge herb markets displaying bursting bags and baskets of musty smelling barks and roots that the older generations oggle and haggle over. Wandering the herb markets is a delight for me, but I'm not satisfied with just the visual culture ... I want to KNOW the beliefs behind them!

On the 헛게나무 or Oriental Raisin Tree

The 헛개나무 is common to oriental medicine, referred to in Korea as 한의약 (Korean medicine), and so it is readily available in herb and open air markets and in the 5-day markets which specialize in medicinals. Probably the biggest reason for its popularity is due to the huge drinking culture in Korea. With so much indigestion, stomach upset and malaise from binge drinking, the boiled pulp and bark of the 헛개나무 ease hangovers and detox the liver. It is believed to be great for alcoholics and particularly helpful for treating the fatty liver.

To make the post-alcohol detox drink, add 50 grams of sliced 헛개나무 to 2 liters of water and bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil, turn the heat down and simmer the liquid for 2 hours with the lid opened or removed (for releasing toxins). After the liquid has been simmered for 2 hours, it is ready to drink. Though drinking it hot or cold effects the body the same, most people prefer to drink the liquid chilled and as if it were water, that is, throughout the day. There doesn't seem to be any limit on how much a person can consume in a day but my gut feeling parallels the cliche "too much of a good thing" isn't good. The woody plant can be boiled several times for extracting the healing properties, but 2 or 3 times at the very least.

The 헛개나무 is also believed to be great for releasing stress, lowering high blood pressure, counteracting jaundice, constipation and diabetes. As already said, it is great for the hangover and upset stomach so marketing, to exploit this belief, has happily created a 헛개나무 yogurt. Older people also use it when boiling meat in order to "clean up" the meat and remove bad tastes and toxins. Even the fruit of the 헛개나무 has its purpose -- it is used in Oriental medicine, particularly when doing acupunture (although Yoon wasn't certain exactly how).



The web is filled with places to purchase 헛개나무, the fruit, the bark (pictured above), the leaf. Of course it's available through GMarket -- hey, what isn't?! But because of its popularity in the Korean culture, there is even a market that specializes in the woody plant: http://hutgenamu.com. This site markets the domesticated plant substances, the really wild plant substances -- 헛개나무 껍질, the skin/bark of the tree, which is marketed at ￦50,000/kg -- and even the 헛개나무 얼매 or fruit of the tree, which sells at ￦130,000/60 fruit juice packets.

Language Diversity in Subway

For the first time today, I saw a medley of foreign languages on a subway poster on subway line 6, the line that passes through Itaewon, the known location for foreign goods and exotic restaurants, and an international assemblage of foreigners and their respective babble of languages. I have in the past seen a brief comment in Chinese or Japanese and the subway intercom announcing stops has gradually come to include Chinese or Japanese on some lines and some key stations or transfer stations, but today this posting really shows that Korea is making attempts to embrace other foreign languages and target other large language groups besides the big three: English, Chinese and Japanese.


This poster shows three languages with a simple sentence representing each. The first is Japanese with the message "Seoul where everyone smiles". The second language I'm actually clueless about but the message is "Seoul where everyone is happy". The final message reads in Arabic "Seoul that is constantly thankful". In the upper right-hand corner this propaganda message heralds from Hi Seoul, the department that spreads or perhaps is in charge of culture and entertainment around Seoul. For some more info on the entertainment options or other information on "Hi Seoul, the soul of Korea" go to http://english.seoul.go.kr/ for English, Japanese and Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese?), or for Korean http://www.seoul.go.kr/main/index.html.

Dolmen at Sahmyook University

Sahmyook University is located outside of Seoul proper, and is far enough away from a subway line that is still considered quite rural although 10 minutes walk locates a person in the middle of a thriving suburbia. Having stately red pines lining the main entrance drive and thick green overhead foliage, the air seems cleaner and the pace of life slows to enjoy the surroundings.


Especially in fall, the display of colors is vivid. Not surprising, nestled among tall trees and pebbled paths are a line-up of dolmen (고인돌), neolithic stones for ritual or burial purposes. While the dolmen are just stylized recreations, unlike a couple of those that were actually excavated and relocated to larger universities - Korea University, for example - the setting seems natural enough for such remembrances of a bygone time.

Sunday at the Riverside

Spring and fall when the weather is bright and sunny, the riverside is swarming with people, especially on weekends. This Sunday was gorgeous after a slightly chilly spell so the riverside wasn't as packed, but it certainly was filled with entertaining activities for people to watch or participate in!

Bee-sting Therapy

Many times through the spring, summer and now the fall I've seen middle-aged and elderly people collecting bees. I'm passionately interested about the therapy used, how to do it, how effective and so many questions. Most people haven't talked with me - some because maybe they didn't want to, but others seem to feel that the foreigner just won't understand. Today this gentleman was really helpful and informative. Yeah, I certainly didn't understand everything and he wasn't very talkative but he sure did give me a lot of info about his collecting method which he feels is superior to others. [I agree. Others have used tweezers to snatch bees badly damaging the ones they catch as well as the very high percentage that gets away; others have places a baggy over the flower and bee and shook the bee to the bottom of the deep baggy where others were balled up, of course injuring the bees with all the rough shaking and them being compressed in such a small tight hot space; others use bottles but none as confidently or gently as this guy!]



He uses sugar cubes stuck inside the plastic water bottle so that caught bees won't get hurt or want to fly out when he's trying to grab others. Small holes allow ventilation and he doesn't bang the bees around and injure them, because he's collecting them for therapy, bee-sting therapy. He tries to get at least 25 stings for effective therapy. I didn't understand what the problem he was exactly treating but rheumtism and "places where people ache" seem to cover it. My friend in the states who has fibromyalgia says the beestring therapy she tried was somewhat helpful, but I've never talked with anyone in Korea who has explained more about the therapy on a deeper level, and where the idea and treatment came from. It's certainly another fascinating aspect of either traditional Chinese or Korean medicine!

Drum Concert

Events like picnic fundraisers, concerts and competitions are held at one of the many riverside park areas. Today there was a rousing drum concert with precision repercussion power rolling from the throats of the drums. Absolutely loved it! I think it was for a fund-raiser for perhaps physically and mentally handicapped youth and their families. Many young people with evidence of cerebral palsy, Mongoloidism, and other disabilities were swarming the area with care-givers, volunteers and family in attendance. The drum concert was one of the beginning events held and other musical events followed. Food tents were set up busting with people preparing hot "picnic foods" over bunsen burners.


[Kimbap boxes made early in the morning by some small company used to be the traditional picnic food but now people actually bring in cooking equipment and make hot food. Kimbap is not so commonly seen anymore as street food either ... and I really miss it. But according to my friends, cheap oils are used in making kimbap so people shouldn't eat it. And my thoughts, and cheap oils at high temperatures aren't used for making the now ubiquitous and very fattening fried street foods? Or white bread colored with caramel coloring is better for you than rice? I don't get it. Why spurn what one knows for something unknown but which tastes better, but in the long run will do a lot more harm to the body? Sigh.]

Kite Flying

Kite flying offers surprising constrasts in Korea. In the US children like playing with kites in the summer. However, in Korea children do like playing with kites but this has been traditionally a winter sport. With the right winds blowing on cold winter days making a blue cloudless sky, the wind and sky were perfect for enticing a colorful display of kites high. Also traditionally there were kite fights, but I'm not sure in what period they took place, which ethnic group introduced them or whether they originated in Korea. But what did take place traditionally long ago in Korea was a special kite flying on Lunar New Year's day. Children would fly kites in the sky, make a wish and then cut their kite strings to release their kite, aka wish, in hopes of having their wish be realized. I've heard that this tradition was causing a lot of kite trash around [much like releasing balloons in the atmosphere] so the government put a stop to it. As best as I can tell, this tradition stopped sometime in the 1980s.

Anyway, kite flying has become an activity for elderly men, and today there were three out flying their kites. There was also a father teaching his little girl how to fly a simple kite, but he sure seemed more interested in flying it than she. She quickly lost interest because she couldn't get it up in the air, not surprising since the elderly pros were really struggling too. What I love about these picts is the string cradle that Koreans use for easily spinning to allow quick soaring flights or to harness in a falling kite. Korea is famous for their kite skills and kite making is something that all Korean children learn in kindergarten and elementary school, kite making with kites that look like the Korean flag. Even festivals frequently offer this as a craft option.




Korean Croquet

I wish I knew the name of this "sport" but it definitely looks like croquet until you watch for a couple of minutes, then you begin to wonder why players sometimes overlap playing time, seem to hit more than they should, and the way they play in teams is REALLY confusing. However, this is definitely an old people's game. I have never, ever seen anyone under 50 playing. Women do enjoy it, but men thrive on it and play pretty much in all four seasons. For that reason, all along the long riverside bike trails is a quite occasion croquet court. The courts usually appear in areas near large apartment complexes, and they get a lot of grooming to maintain their flat, unscuffed appearance. There's one particular court where a gentleman plays and thinks I should hit the ball for "experience". I never have because I plainly don't understand their rules; they're different than how I learned croquet, and if I'm going to hit the ball, I'm going to play a whole game ... maybe not skillfully, but knowledgeable at least.



Car Racing

Racing remote control cars is the latest craze along the riverside. Old and young alike line up in droves to watch people "drive" their remote cars around and around and around and around in circles. Hypnotizing indeed! The cars aren't racing really; they're just going around, making maneuvers, and sometimes jumping. Nothing exciting but crowds get attracted. I have to smile. People go to the riverside for exercise, but this is the most sedentary activity here ... and with lots of people doing it - nothing!


Playing ball and Fishing for ball

Loads and loads of guys make teams and play ball, or vigorously practice solo shots. Really blood pumping workouts! Well, today another ball bounced into the dirty river, and one of the local fishermen was recruited to help. That fisherman was good at throwing his line just on the other side of the ball, but the slight current was pulling the ball away and eventually the poor fisherman had to admit defeat ... and another ball now bobs in the middle of the river. It just wouldn't be Sunday without adding at least one ball to the river!

A Modern Traditional Korean Wedding

Today, an American female friend married her Korean soulmate at the famous Korea House, which they had to book several months in advance for. At the reception afterwards, she was laughing with several of her friends about her choice of wedding hall: three of her couple-friends in attendance had gotten married there and there were a lot of memories stirred up by the group gathering.

Korea House

Korea House (한국의집) is popular for both Koreans and foreigners as a wedding hall. Korea House provides a traditional cultural setting, food, performance and cultural goods. Originally as a private residence of Park Paeng-nyeon, a scholar during King Sejong's rule (4th king of the Joseon Dynasty), after the establishment of the South Korean government the hall was used as a guest hall for domestic and overseas VIPs, and then in 1980 finally became managed by the Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation for the development and preservation of traditional Korean culture. The design of the building is regarded as an important intangible cultural asset. With such a historic background and the traditional ambience located in the heart of Seoul, popularity as a traditional wedding hall is guaranteed, especially for Koreans marrying non-Koreans who want their visiting family members to experience the Korean culture they are marrying into.

In the courtyard the family members assemble in a line [well, traditionally the groom's family would be on one side of the courtyward and the bride's family on the other, but this non-traditional seating is to facilitate photography.] The court musician play their ensemble and await the coming of the groom, who is escorted by a senior or highly respected friend.


The groom humbly enters, and bows to the assisting honorable friend and groom are exchanged. This is a formality of acceptance and the groom is then escorted to his awaiting bride, who becomingly must hide her face from the groom and submissively follow him, tailed by her consenting mother. [Heather's mother was visiting Korea for the first time so her trailing behind was just an act of ritual whereas traditionally the mother would assist her daughter to the marriage table, set with fertility symbols, such as chestnuts, jujubes, rice cakes, eggs, a chicken wrapped in cloth. etc -- only chestnuts were on this simplified table, however.]





The bride bows deeply to the groom. He bows in return. Then [I've never seen this before] he performs ritualistic absolutions of cleansing his face and hands with ceremonial water on his side of the table, and then she does the same on her side. [It is important to note that a sharp delineation of gender roles and rituals for gender are apparent in any traditional ceremony ... a book could be written on just the Korean marriage ceremony!]


After ritualistic cleansing, once again they bow; this time deep genuflections are solemnly performed three times with foreheads touching hands which are placed decorously on the straw mat. These deep genuflections from the bride are symbolic of her subserviant attitude to be performed throughout marriage, and his accepting her subservience as his bride ... [traditional thinking].


Then, maintaining gender segregation the groom on his side and the bride on hers are assisted with eating their "first meal together", symbolic of future meals to be shared as husband and wife, although in the Korean language frequently when people talk about a couple they refer to them as the "groom and the bride"; only with more and more exposure to western thinking has this been changing to "husband and wife".


With the eating of their "first meal" together, the bride is ready to say farewell to her family and enter her in-laws household. [Traditionally, she entered as household drudge as the new bride was to serve her husband and his extended family. She would only get relief in household work as her groom's younger brothers got married and brought their wives into the household and the youngest female to enter the household would be the one to do the hardest labor.] To saw farewell, the bride turns to her parents and bows her farewell. [In many other ceremonies I've seen, the bows have been genuflection to the floor, three times with hands held in polite decorum. Our bride here was directed that the single bow from the waist would be sufficiently polite and convey the honor necessary to both her parents and in-laws. Otherwise, the ceremony would have been long. She (perhaps including her husband) would have had to genuflect to the floor three times in farewell to her parents, and then genuflect three times to the groom's parents as she was now to be registered under their 촉포, family registry.]



I really don't get it. In Korea when a ceremony is over, people jump up and rush out. The bow was barely concluded and over a third and maybe half of the people were gone, not even waiting for the bride and groom to make an exit to the door which the bride had entered by. The reason for this rush in Korea is shameful I think: people are anxious to eat the good food at the reception. I've even known (many times!) people who take a quick peak at the bride and groom in the ceremony and head for the dining hall before "the rush" gets there. But because the majority bolted or went to the front to take pictures of the newly wed couple, I could get a shot of the elegant display of flower arrangments traditionally present at weddings (colorful), funerals (white), and in front of shops at shop openings (colorful). Each tiered flower bouquet must cost at least ₩200,000, but the Korea House package deal includes these background arrangeents, which are shaped by the several weddings held on that day.



The Reception

I was a bit surprised by the reception at Korea House. In their glorious colored brochures advertising their splendid facilities and ceremonies, low reception tables are spread elegantly with chopstick and spoon sets, a spreading centerpiece of appetising side dishes, and steaming bowls of soups or meat dishes are served to people who are sitting on mats at the table. We, on the other hand, were directed to the "new dining hall" and it was inelegant buffet style. The food was varied but the decorum was lost. Buffet style is the new rage in Korea for speed and efficiency in serving the most people. It does not require many attendants, the tables are east to set and clean up afterwards, and an eating time limit is enforced for laggers, which we were. Another wedding party was expected within half an hour and we were politely asked to depart. Though the atmosphere didn't signify anything special, the food itself was delicious and there were many meat and seafood dishes, which is considered important for food events in the present-day.

The Korean Creation Story & Dangun

Long, long ago at the beginning of time the great celestial father "Hwan-in" (환인) gave permission for his son "Hwan-oong" (환웅) to visit earth where a few thousand people lived in poverty, died of diseases and had bad characters.


While there he was approached by two animals, a bear and a tiger, who beseeched him, "Please, oh venerable sir, change us into humans." Hwan-oong felt this was very praiseworthy, but since earth already had flawed humans, he decided to test their characters. Grabbing a handful of garlic cloves, he told them, "I have heard your supplications, and your true heart will be revealed with these garlic cloves. Go into a cave and eat garlic for food, and for 100 days you must not come out or see the light if you wish to achieve your heart's desire."


Both the bear and the tiger entered the cave and endeavored to do as the son of the celestial father had directed them. However, the tiger craved sunlight and the garlic was not at all to his liking, and endurance was beyond him so he rushed out of the cave ... and the weak, grasping nature of the tiger has been forever revealed. The bear, however, patiently persevered, and after the 100 days, its heart's desire was achieved for it became changed into a beautiful maiden of good and pure character.


Unfortunately, the maid was alone and she made her own supplications. Her heart's desire was to give birth to a son. Hwan-oong heard her supplications and seeing her beauty and her gentle character, married her and soon they became parents of a strong baby boy, who they named "Dangun-prince" (단군왕검).


And Dangun-prince grew in strength and power. He married and had children who became the forefathers of the people of the Korean peninsula. And there on the peninsula the great Dangun-prince founded the great legacy of blood and the nation of "Gojoseon" (고조선).


And thus is the story of the founding of the united Koreas.