Chinese Teas & Their Effects on the Body

There are many kinds of Chinese teas, but this presentation concerns six of them, classified by their color: Green tea, White tea, Yellow tea, Blue (ulong) tea, Red tea, and Black tea. Each of the teas are comprised of different ingredients - well, different leaves or preparations of leaves - and each tea has a specific effect or effects on the body.

Green Tea

Ingredient: made with unfermented green leaves

Effects: good for skin care, relieves hangover, inhibits the growth of cancer cells and reduces high blood pressure, promotes higher good cholesterol in the body

White Tea

Ingredient: young tea leaves with fuzz

Effects: has health benefits such as weight loss and cooling the body of excessive heat

Yellow Tea

Ingredient: unfermented tea leaves

Effects: promotes digestion (good for indigestion and lack of appetite), helps with weight loss, helps prevent cancers [effects are very similar to those of green tea]




Blue (ulong) Tea

Ingredient: lightly fermented tea leaves

Effects: has anti-cavity qualities from the blue enzymes, removed active oxygen which affects the aging of skin, relieves skin allergies, and strengthens the immune system by discharging alien substances from the body

Red Tea

Ingredient: fermented tea leaves

Effects: has anti-aging qualities primarily with helping to prevent aging of skin, has anti-cavity qualities because of polyphenols, helps with fatigue recovery and boost metabolism, helps discharge heavy metals from the body, helps with weight loss

Black Tea

Ingredient: fermented tea leaves

Effects: increases metabolism, strengthens the immune system with its polyphenols, helps break down fats, sterilizes many germs coming into the body



OTHER TEAS - THESE ARE FOR GENDER SPECIFICS

Rubus coreanus miguel Tea
(복분자 - very similar to the raspberry)

Ingredient: rubus berry

Effects: improves eye sight and memory, increases sexual stamina, induces urination

Cautions: possible allergic reaction, should not be consumed by people with hot body types as the tea increases heat, do not overeat

Cultural comments: Viewed as a men's tea, or at least is considered especially for men. Also for people with low "heat". This tea supposedly originated in a Korean fairy tale in which an old man takes a pee in a chamber pot and pee-ed and pee-ed and pee-ed. This pee-ing business is based on Korean traditional belief that pee-ing a lot symbolizes virility and man's ability.

Samul Tea (four medicine tea)

Ingredients: dong quai (당귀), boiled foxglove (숙지황), cnidium (천궁), white peony (백작약)

Effects: good for anemia, supports the uterus, prevents cramps, promotes healthy skin and a slim body

Cultural comments: best for women as it promotes good blood flow and for those with a "shortage of blood" (anemia). The 동귀보검, an historic 25-volume set of books compiled on health and medicine originally referred to samul tea as samul tang, suggesting it was more for medicinal purposes originally and not really something to enjoy with a meal.

Some Comments

(Comments in regard to the 6 types of Chinese teas) The present trend in the health world is to discuss the positive aspects of a marketed item, and teas and other beverages in Korea (like coffee and sports drinks and more) have become heavily discussed as to their "health" benefits. What is hardly ever mentioned is the fact that all these drinks have side effects on the body with some teas adversely affecting people with some diseases ... just an observation. The presentation was considered very good as a cultural presentation of traditions, but would lacking if the assignment were based on health aspects ... many people confuse these two aspects of judging/evaluating a presentation. Purpose of the presentation must be clear, and here the purpose was to give a cultural representation of something in a "food" category.

The information in this presentation (actually two separate presentations) was the research of notes and pictures from my students Oh Eun Jung and Eom Yun-sik (the six kinds of teas based on color) and Baek Ki Tae and Kim Woo Hee (teas for genders). Their presentations were very interesting and provided a lot of "food for thought".

Military Propaganda in North Korea

Yeongye kunin - "disabled / honorable veterans" - and North Korean national identity 

Through "military games" North Korea is projecting themselves to be mighty and valorous. And there seems within propaganda - media like books, comics, cartoons, movies, TV programs and other broadcasts - that there is a "desperate readiness to die [for the leader, the country, the party]".

(pretty rude! something like "the military plays with the f~~ American" ... but have to say
my translation is pretty lame although I certainly got the "f~~ American" part right)

The lauding of the soldier and his greatness targets even the young and tender of age. For example, a piece of North Korean children's poetry reads:

The whole world envies us
The whole world is afraid of us
We are the nation of the sun
The nation which shines under the slogan of juche (self-reliance)
We are the sons and daughters of guns and bombs.

And as one observant analytical mind of the North Korean society wrote: "The North Korean military is an embodiment of North Korea's national identity. Without the military, the regime is simply not viable." John (???)

Some observers tend to link contemporary North Korean passion for arms and bellicose international rhetoric with the official announcement of seongun or "military first" era, making its nationwide debut in 1996-1998. Seongun is often perceived as a departure from the previous juche course.

Constant features of NK society and propaganda

• Prioritization of the military in all aspects of DPRK life
• Preferential allocation of resources to the army
• Constant call for involvement and support from the public for the army, rhetoric of "mutual love" of the army and the people

State militarism in 1950s - late 1980s relied upon:

• recent memories of the Korean War
• real episodes of military confrontation with the enemy
• genuine endeavors of the government to keep the DPRK's armed forces mobilized for another offensive
• militarism was an essential part of official ideology which had not yet exhausted its credibility
• relative material stability was ascribed to efforts of the Korean People's Army
• efficient isolationist policy barred citizens from access to any contesting information

In the 1950s - 1980s, the enormous standing Korean People's Army had not been involved in any military activity. However, since the late 1980s, changes have been clearly noted:

• attrition of the state distribution system and decrease of living and material standards
• North Koreans naturally became more concerned with personal welfare, rather than with reciprocal protection of their state
• the gradual erosion of the iron curtain
• North Koreans exposed to challenging discourses

There followed a creation of a quasi-military society. Women were given rankings and participated in military activities. And the military was given a softer, more sentimental overtone - in propaganda smiles and joy were on the faces of soldiers and soldiers were provided with much vied for creature comforts. 

Since the late 1980s the major goals of the militarist propaganda became:

• a stimulation of North Korean society by creating a sense of false urgency
• an illusion of common goals
• a distraction of popular attention from the faults of the economic and political strategy promoted by the ruling elite
• a justification of material deficiencies and harsh anti-democratic policies of the state leadership
• stimulation of national pride in moments of actual national disgrace

and at the center:

• the idea of the innate self-sacrificial spirit of military people, as the best part of the NK society
• counterbalance to the unwanted spread of consumerism and mercenary spirit among the "overtly liberalized" civilians
• reciprocal pattern of self-sacrifice relationships between the military and the civilians

Yeongye kunin "honorable / disabled veterans"

With a push for military expansionism and the driving need to have soldiers in the army, the soldiers who have been disabled - the yeongye kunin - are lauded for the commendable sacrifice to nation building.

The yeongye kunin are officially revered as heroes - in contrast to non-military handicapped people who are widely discriminated against and ignored. Civilians, therefore, are summoned to commit reciprocal self-sacrifice - to similarly join the army and fill the place of the injured or to become the "honorable veteran's" spouse cum nurse, basically turning one's self into his or her legs/eyes/arms and at the same time receiving the blessings of the government.

Romances of yeongye kunin proliferate - they are a popular theme of North Korean culture. Films such as "Traces of Life" (1987) and "Girls in My Hometown" (1991) by playwright Ri Ch'un-gu are wildly popular. Literary fiction like "Mirror" (2009) written by Cho Hyang-mi and based on actual events is also widely read.

Tropes of yeongye kunin paradigm:

• yeongye kunin as canonized saints and therefore entitled to public admiration 
• yeongye kunin entitled to loyalty of the trophy spouse
• yeongye kunin entitled to a bright future

No matter what the yeongye kunin did or how they achieved their status, they are to be honored. The sensibility, or human and material costs, of their exploits are never debated. And yet to the non-North Korean, some of the cases of their being honored seem rather dubious:

Example 1: "Mirror"

In 1998 17 male and female soldiers saved "sacred" trees on Baekdu Mountain from a fire. The trees' bark was presumably covered by indigenous sayings of the Kim Il Sung's guerrilla troops, and as personal troops of the Great Leader, the sayings were considered "sacred". In saving the illustrious trees, however, some soldiers perished while others received severe burns. The injured and departed soldiers were instantly transformed into heroes. They became highly praised yeongye kunin. In the picture below, the saved "sacred" trees have been encased in glass to protect them from further harm. These "sacred" trees (as can be seen by North Korean tourism to the "holy site") as well as the yeongye kunin are highly idolized within North Korean society.

Example 2: Exploit of yeongye kunin in "Girls in My Hometown"

A handsome squad officer Shin Song-chol loses his sight during an industrial accident. He is extolled as a hero. Evidently wearing a uniform and working for the party is what is deserving of the honor of public recognition and esteem, not apparently what he was doing at the time of the event.

Theme: Yeongye kunin are entitled to trophy spouses

The "honorable veterans" are deserving of trophy spouses in payment for their sacrifice. The trophy spouses, who are physically and spiritually perfect, are to make reciprocal sacrifice as "romantic partners". The not so subtle message is that a "prince" or "princess"  appreciates the moral perfection of the yeongye kunin and are broadminded and accepting in regards to his or her disability.

The trophy spouses, therefore, can be seen not only as lovers but as "forced heroes". Any retreat in the course of loyalty to yeongye kunin is treated as political misconduct and betrayal of the lover's revolutionary status. Rejection of the yeongye kunin is shameful, and "traitors" are socially ostracized and permanently unhappy. Therefore, the lovers or trophy spouses have little choice - either they are a hero for marrying and being faithful and self-sacrificing to the yeongye kunin or they become a criminal.

Example 1: "Traces of Life"

P'ilsuni abandons Kilnam who has lost his leg during some unspecified incident. Shinju, the chairperson of the collective farm convenes a meeting where she condemns the disloyal P'ilsuni and proposes that she be expelled from the collective farm. P'ilsuni regrets her behavior. Together with Chinju, she goes to ask Kilnam's forgiveness. The entire village celebrates their wedding party.

Example 2: "Girls in My Hometown"

Eunha is dating a handsome squad officer Shin Song-chol whose troops are helping farmers with the construction of an irrigation channel. When Shin loses his sight during an industrial accident, she abandons him, and people are outraged by this "selfish" act. Eunha's best friend Sinae proposes to the blinded officer and is extolled as a heroine by everybody, and most particularly by a high officer who says, "Comrade Sinae! Your true and noble comradely love set a fine example for Korean women to all of us officers and men. Women like you encourage us to give our lives unhesitatingly for the country and the revolution!" Sinae's response, "I will love him with a sincere heart. This is my vow to the Party."

Betrayal is portrayed as an act of selfishness and material greed which are incompatible with the spirit of socialism, not as an act of self-defense and endeavor to avoid life-long ordeal. Eunha has remorse for her abandonment. "I betrayed my love and friendship for my own self. Girls like me can betray a Party and the country. I thought you'll never forgive me. I make a vow to you. Like Sinae and her husband I'll give my all to the country and the revolution. If occasion calls, I'll dedicate my whole life to a disabled soldier. I swear before you."

In North Korean rhetoric, the yeongye kunin are entitled to a bright future. Marriage is the outcome, and the narrative to such an end is heavily idealized. There is no mention of material or physical challenges which care-giving implies. The romanticized, fairy tale picture of the yeongye kunin is contrasted to the allegedly gloomy, ostracized existence of those with consumerist and individualistic tendencies. Heroism is obligatory - the soldier is obliged to be a hero, and in the event that he or she is hurt, a trophy spouse is obliged to be equally self-sacrificing. In the narrative the heroes life is full of appreciation and support of the entire society - beautiful men and women hurry to propose to them out of the appreciation of the nobility of their acts. In North Korean paradise, duty and self-sacrifice are obligatory; they are portrayed as aesthetically attractive, socially appreciated and free of pain, sweat and blood.

___________________________________________________

Professor Tatiana Gabroussenko, PhD in East Asian Studies, presented this insightful lecture at the Royal Asiatic Society. She is a highly knowledgeable presenter as well as the author of a number of article devoted to contemporary North Korean culture, literature and propaganda.

Visa Run to Fukuoka, Japan

The Process

The process is pretty straightforward. Day 1 - Drop off your forms and passport at the Korean consulate in the morning (before 11:00), and then Day 2 - pick the passport back up after 11:00 - 12:00 or early afternoon (after 13:30). Two pieces of advice are:

u  Get to the consulate as early as possible (9:00 or 10:00) on Day 1, so you don’t miss getting your application in and so you can spend the rest of the day touring around.

u  Prepare all your documents in Korea - then you can jump the lines at the consulate and also know you have everything.

Once you get back to Korea, you have 90 days to go to Korean immigration in Korea and apply for your Alien Registration Card (ARC).

Documents required:

ü  Passport

ü  Completed application form (picked up at the Korean Consulate or downloaded online)

ü  Certificate for confirmation of visa issuance (a blue form from your employer in Korea)

ü  2 color passport photos (3cm x 4cm)

ü  Application fee: 6,000JPY (about 70,000KRW)

The Korean Consulate in Fukuoka

u  Address: 1-1-3, Jigyohama, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, Japan 810-0065

u  Phone: 092-771-0461

u  Office Hours: M-F, 10:00-12:00 & 13:30-15:30. Closed Sat-Sun. Closed both Korean & Japanese holidays

Directions to the Korean Consulate (Fukuoka)

1.     Take the subway to Tojin Machi Station

2.     Take exit 1 (follow the signs to the Korean Consulate)

3.     Walk straight for about 5 minutes

4.     Reach a T-intersection, cross the road and turn right

5.     Walk straight for about 5 minutes and look for the consulate

For information concerning getting your visa, see Visa Runs from Korea to Japan.


While in Fukuoka, look around. There is a gorgeous lake (Ohori Park) with bike lanes around it, and just east of it massive and diverse water lily gardens,  a castle wall (which was undergoing some archaeological excavations), and more than a couple large Shinto shrines. A walk to the ocean from the consulate is also possible. Explore!

Fukuoka Castle ruins - the castle was built in the Edo Period (17th - 19th century)

Fukuoka Castle was one of the largest castles in Japan with four floors, 47 turrets, and a samurai quarters spanning over 2.46 million square meters. The east gate provided access between the second and third baileys, and it was part of the main route to the second bailey, the castle keep, and to the castle tower. The third bailey contained the residences of the chief retainers to the feudal lord.

Shintoism - Shinto, "the way of the Kami (gods)", is such a widespread practice in Japan and, along with Buddhism, creates quite the mix of philosophical rather than religious beliefs. There are various forms of Shintoism: Koshito - the Shinto of the Imperial House, Jinja (shrine) Shinto - the largest group, Kyoha (sectarian) Shinto aka Shuha Shinto, and Minzoku (folk) Shinto. It is guestimated that about 84% of the Japanese population believes in some kind of Shinto and/or Buddhism. How this percentage is arrived at is unknown, but with most Japanese attending shrines and/or temples at key moments in their lives, then perhaps this number reflects the number of "Christians" in the US, as that  number often counts the "Christians" who go to church twice a year - Easter and Christmas - and therefore term themselves as "Christians".

In any regard, I rented a bicycle for about a dollar a day and peddled around in Ohori Park, around the lake. To the east and southeast of the lake are large Shinto shrines with massive pillars. The first had such huge tree trunks holding it up that it would take three adults to circle their arms around the massive supports!

wooden structure - absolutely massive!

cement structure

In China the color red symbolizes the ridding of evil spirits. That's why the color is so heavily employed (the hanging of red lanterns, the wearing of red clothes, the giving of red New Year's cards) at the beginning of New Year's along with the explosion of red fire crackers. In China it is also an elemental and directional color for it symbolizes the element fire and the direction south.

In Japan, red symbolizes auspiciousness and happiness. Red is a powerful color in Japan, and is heavily a part of both Shinto and Buddhist rituals. Not only is it for auspiciousness and happiness but represents strong emotions rather than ideas; it connotes energy, vitality, heat and power. In more modern times it represents love, intimacy and sexual desire, but most importantly, and this applies heavily to the religious underlying principles, it represents life force and the energy of the people.

Water - purifying to the body and the spirit and therefore its presence within all Shinto and Buddhist temples alike. This spring is at the center of one of the largest Shinto shrine areas I entered.

And back to Ohori Park and the beautiful lake. The first day I was in Fukuoka the weather was hot, steamy but very gorgeous. The second day, however, cooled down very quickly as the clouds began to roll in. Yep, typhoon season. I returned my bike and the majority of the second day was spent in a tea shop reading a book and waiting for the time to pass so I could go to the airport and return on the evening flight to Korea. (click on pictures to enlarge)

Detrimental Wooden Chopsticks

In Korea, one of the most popular disposable items is chopsticks. Even some people who do not use a disposable lunchbox or a plate can not avoid disposable chopsticks. People use disposable chopsticks because of their convenience and lightness in contrast with metal chopsticks. However, the advantages of disposable chopsticks make us forget about the indirect harm that they do. Though disposable wooden chopsticks are thin, they are strong enemies of human beings and Earth.

 

One aspect of their harmfulness is their effect on the overall health of human beings. Chopsticks contain enormous chemical substances to make them white; therefore, using disposable chopsticks means eating chemicals. To cite an experiment that proves chemicals in disposable chopsticks are tremendous, let’s consider fish. Every fish in a tank died within twelve hours when they were put in water with disposable chopsticks. This seems to strongly point to the fact that the chemicals in disposable chopsticks soaking into the water resulted in the death of the fish.

Another aspect alerting people to the fact that disposable chopsticks are detrimental to life is the need to destroy trees in order to obtain wood for the chopsticks manufacture, and this causes a chain reaction. Disappearing woods can cause extermination of animals. For example, animals in Kenya are losing their habitats and disappearing at an alarming speed. This kind of situation not only threatens wildlife but also results in disappearing forests, which in turn result in less industrial pollution in the atmosphere being cleaned by the green leafy foliage of trees, case in point, the yellow dust that descends upon Korea every spring. Korean broadcasting station, MBC, reported that fifty thousand trees are annually cut in China just to make disposable chopsticks. This mass cutting of trees in China very negatively effects the amount of yellow dust blowing into Korea as the roots of trees no longer hold the soil in place or retain the earth’s moisture which supports a humid rather than an arid environment.

The final reason that disposable wooden chopsticks are hazardous to our planet is that they are discarded easily, and therefore, their chemicals leach into the soil damaging it and eventually spreading outward. Cleaning up discarded chopsticks requires great expense and wasteful effort, both of which could be so easily avoided if they were disposed of properly to begin with. Unfortunately, many chopsticks are tossed aside by people in the mountains and on picnics because people incorrectly assume that the chopsticks are wood and wood only and therefore are naturally biodegradable. When this happens, people must be employed to pick up this chemical attack on nature as chopsticks do not easily decay because of the chemical compounds that they were treated with. To put emphasis on why chopsticks should never be created, let alone tossed aside, the disposable chopsticks need at least twenty years to biodegrade, and that is an unnaturally long time for a thin piece of weak wood.

Using disposable chopsticks is of course very convenient, but they contain a lot of chemicals, cause the disappearance of forests and natural habitats, and definitely pollute the environment. For these three reasons, disposable wooden chopsticks are undesirable, detrimental, and death inducers of both nature and living organisms. Disposable chopsticks are of course convenient but at what a cost! Certainly people need to reconsider their consumer habits and think beyond convenience to the broader issues facing our own health and the health of our planet.

________________________________________________________

This phenomenal information came from Lee Seul, a student of many years ago, who wrote her five-paragraph persuasive essay in such a meaningful way that I asked if I could have a copy to share with future students as a model. She gladly gave me permission. Well done! I did clean up a few spots and reorganize a little data but overall, this is a writing example from my freshman writing class, and what an example! Thank you Lee Seul! I'm still appreciating this information.

빨리 빨리 - Quickly, Quickly!

I think every foreigner comments on the Korean 빨리 빨리 culture. It seems, from the foreigner's perspective, that there's little long-term planning but a lot of rushing, rushing once a decision has been made. A fairly recent example that quickly-quickly comes to mind is the rush the government put on foreigner's needing fingerprinting to validate their benign moral existence in Korea. The government passed the ruling and wanted to implement it fully within about 6 months. Impossible given the huge number of foreigners residing within Korea! My educated guess is at least 2% of the near 50 million population. In the end, the full institution of the law was postponed an additional year beyond the 6-month trial implementation period (to be fully expected, of course!) I wonder where this 빨리 빨리 attitude came from. The Chosun Dynasty is famous for its slowness of pace, the lack of change and the stagnation of society. Is this 빨리 빨리-ness a reaction to the dull pace of an agrarian society that measured itself only by the changing seasons? I'm hoping one day in my studies to bump into some quote or passage that reveals where this rush-rush originated from because it seems antithetic to the pastoral leisure of an agriculture society, which Korea was until arguably the 1970s.

It's interesting to note other repetitious expressions that come from other societies in relation to the speed which something must be done. In Swahili, "pole, pole", slowly, slowly is the traditional term but is now becoming more "haraka, haraka", meaning quickly, quickly. Was the repetition 빨리 빨리 a spin off a dead colloquialism of the past which appears to still exist in Swahili? French uses "vite, vite" for quickly, quickly but I am unaware of a repetition for slowly, slowly [let me add that I never studied French either but happened across this expression]. In the calming Greek rural society the young are scolded to eat "siga, siga" or slowly, slowly to benefit their digestion. Do the Greeks also have a contemporary repetition for the speed that the younger generation finds preferable? Hmm, language and culture cannot be separated -- language explains culture, and culture language. 

The History of Budae Jjigae

Koreans have eaten jjigae (very thick stew) perhaps since time immemorial, but with the coming of the Korean War when food was scarce, a new kind of jjigae was born - budae jjigae, almost literally "military stew". With the advent of the US soldiers, who were considered rich next to the impoverished Koreans who lived a hand-to-mouth subsistence, Koreans were first introduced to what it was like to have a surplus of meat. They themselves didn't have the surplus but the Americans did, and around the US military camps some of the US army supplies of canned meats like hot dogs, spam and other packaged meats sometimes found their way into the Korean economy. With the meats that were given to them, exchanged for work, or gleaned from the garbage, Koreans made jjigae by adding the meat to boiling water and whatever else they might have along their their ubiquitous red pepper paste and kimchi.

Although the jjigae was "born" in the Korean War, it ironically came to be called Johnson tang - tang is another kind of soup, not quite so thick or hearty as jjigae. The stew was named after US President Lyndon B. Johnson, and here's the irony, Johnson became president (1963-1969) a decade after the Korean War, the circumstance that actually "created" the thick soup. Therefore, it appears that calling the stew-gumbo Johnson tang was due to the stew's gaining popularity around Korea as Korea had more access to military supplies because many US soldiers continued to be employed in South Korea and pass through South Korea on their way to fight in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam war, the time era when Johnson tang became more widely known, was a time of economic development for the Koreans, particularly as many South Koreans fought in the war as hired soldiers, earning valuable income for their homeland. Thus, with the exposure to the US military goods, namely canned meats, a new food tradition was started in South Korea and has continued to grow in popularity since. 

Budae jjigae, "military stew", is linguistically tainted however with a shadowy military past and connotations of impoverishment, particularly around US military camps. Therefore, in the late 1990s Uijeongbu, a city bordering the north of Seoul and where a large number of military personnel reside, tried to remove the military connotations from the now-popular food by stipulating that henceforth the jjigae was to be referred to as Uijeongbu jjigae. Not many restaurants complied, but other restaurants picked up on the new nomenclature and began calling their stew Uijeongbu budae jjigae. In Uijeongbu and in other spots around Korea, there are budae jjigae streets where a high concentration of budae jjigae restaurants offer variations to the stew: curry budae jjigae, stir-fried budae jjigae, among others. With budae jjigae, about anything is possible for the pot, examples being ddeok, cheese, beans.

The popular Korean dish that was born of adversity is still popular today, and now is called a "fusion food", a new term applied to foods which are a combining of homeland Korean chow mixed with some foreign element, e.g. cheese kimbap is another fusion example and the first time I had it, I just about gagged! In Korea (not surprisingly) there is even a Budae Jjigae Festival with thoughts that it will help "revitalize the economy" and "make us remember the meaning of the Korean War"; it is also said to "unify the local community" although no one has explained to me how this will be a result of eating the stew.

Budae jjigae has even been spread to Japan and from Japan it has been brought back with other "fusion food" changes. I think budae jjigae is a good example of how Korea has changed over the past century - it has gone from being a proud homogeneous society to one that accepts the blurring of cultural lines as long as something Korean still shines through the cultural borrowing.

Credit in outlining this information and particularly for the pictures

goes to my students Lee Cherin and Choi Yeonhee.

Tasting Korean Culture

March 1991 was when I first came to Korea. I lived in Kwangju, a city in a remote area, and because of its remoteness, I learned more traditional culture than my friends who were teaching in Seoul (capital), Incheon (western port city), Daejeon (central city), Daegu (eastern central city), and Pusan (thriving southeastern port city). Because Kwangju wasn’t a port city and there were 35 foreigners registered in the city of over 1 million at that time and because the American air base being retained there since the Korean War was being shut down, there was hardly any access to western food via any black market or even western culture or even much English for that matter. During that first year way down south my five colleagues and I were forced to go somewhat Korean, and I loved it! We certainly learned a lot! These slides via food show some of the cultural contrasts that have occured in South Korea within the last two decades. 

 

 



Bibimbop: Origins and Brief History

Soju and the Provinces



Chuseok at Emart
Seolnal: Lunar New Year's Day

March 14, White Day

Pepero Day

Pica Foods and Diversity



 

Red Peppers Introduced to Korea

The Birth of Ramen Noodles

 

 

Kimchi ... Gimchi, Korea's National Dish
Japan Korea Kimchi Dispute