Had the hot version of Omija (the native Jeju mountain tea), and it tasted a lot different than the iced, I think mainly because the iced was 50% sugar. ;) Still sweeter than most teas that I've had, it was ... very distinctive, with a strange red color that separated out as it sat, like the stuff in miso soup. Not the best tea, and I didn't finish it. The tea-shop though, was Heaven. That was it's name! And it had all sorts of bits and bobs and arty things all over, a great ocean view, and plush couches for seats. Think I'll bring my laptop and do some writing there sometime.

My fellow teachers have been amazing the past few days. On Tuesday I went out for dinner and drinks with all of Daesin Middle School, and then a few teachers and I went ... BOWLING! They couldn't really speak much English, so we communicated with smiles and high fives. And man, are they good. Last night some of the English teachers in other middle schools in Seogwipo City took me out to dinner and tea. :D Every Thursday we have a discussion group where they practice English and talk about whatever subjects are of interest. We were talking philosophy, teaching theory, and even relationships! My coteacher doesn't have a boyfriend so we were trying to set her up with someone at my school, the other guy in the group is getting married in January and still has that starry love-struck look in his eye, and one woman who looks about 25 revealed that she's 38 and has been "learning to tolerate" her husband! Korean culture is so surprising sometimes, they have a word, "hwan-tae-ki", which means the ten year marriage anniversary during which time you usually can't stand your spouse's idiosyncrisies. They have an expression, "I couldn't bear to see even the back of his head." Yikes ! Heheh, so much fun to learn about the way other cultures see the same problems we have. They seem a little more honest than we are sometimes.

Teaching has been going real well, I'm getting a better handle on things as time goes on. The kids are cute as hell, and class is something I look forward to each day. Next week's going to be fun, working in a lesson on the Simpsons and after school activities! Okay well gotta jet for school, hope everyone has a great weekend :) Love, Henry.

Hey everyone. :)

So yesterday I went into work with my host mother, who works at the International Convention Center here, which is one of the most massive and elaborate buildings I have ever seen. She is the head pasty chef, and I got to play around with dough, weigh dough, cut 1000 bananas off of their stalks, mold dough, stuff dough with cream, fling dough at the other workers (heheh) and putting dough in the oven. I know that if this whole English teacher thing doesn't work out, I've got a baker's job all set up.

My favorite part (and you other ETAs will appreciate this) is when I got to stand out in the serving line during lunch and dinner. During lunch I was giving out supa (watermelon) and I was only supposed to give two pieces, but of course you'd get the old ladies who weren't satisfied with their watermelon and pointed out the one they wanted, or just reached their grubby little crinkled hands into the bucket and served themselves. Then you'd get the ones who'd come up with these big pleading eyes and and ask for three pieces instead, or like 15 pieces for their entire table. I was under strict orders to give only two pieces, but of course they didn't listen. They'd come in packs to intimidate me, the foreigner with next to no Korean skills mysteriously wearing a chef's hat. (Yeah, I got the whole thing - big hat, shirt and apron. Stylin. Pictures soon to come in the Flickr account (link to the right). But yeah, it was even worse with the bananas. I got really good at saying andeyo!! (stop it) and han-man (only one!) but of course they'd come with their toothy grins anyhow. We used to pester the ajjimas (Korean name for aunt, also implying a married woman over 35-40 or so) who worked at our dining hall in Orientation for more watermelon or spicy chicken or whatever (the best stuff was always guarded and dished out in portions). We'd make up these elaborate distract-and-grab plots. Now I know how they feel. ;) But really, it was a lot of fun ... and since they didn't understand English I could play around all I wanted.

AJJIMA: "Oh [five] Supa Chuseyo!" (this is her like third time to the watermelon patch)
ME: "Ohhhhoo! look at you! Back for more. Andeyo! You've had your fill."
AJJIMA: [unintelligible Korean gibberish}
ME: "Well, it's no use, you're just going to grab them anyway. Okay, I give up. It's fruit, it's good for you, eat up my friend."
AJJIMA: [toothy grin]

a word on tea: the convention center didn't serve any, but my host mother made some while we were doing food prep in the morning. score. i'm now officially a major iced tea fan.

Oh! Forgot to mention ... drank Black Omija tea the other day in the International Convention Center here in Seogwipo, it's grown on Mt. Halla in Jeju and is unique to the island. Hooray for rare teas! It was almost as fruity as juice, and since it was iced tea the perfect end to a hot day. Yesterday I hung out with my host brother and Jun Hyeok, one of the middle schoolers I taught in the Camp Fulbright classes a few weeks ago and who lives a couple apartments over. Good kids. :) In the evening we went to the World Cup Stadium down the street (they hosted the soccer world cup in 2002) which has become sort of a town square for this side of Seogwipo. Tons of families were there rollerblading, running around, playing soccer etc. My host dad and I played some badminton and we had a few volleys maybe in the 40s or 50s before we dropped it ... and I found out that my host mom is a mean hacky sack player, worlds better than I could ever be! After that, ended up sleeping ten hours last night and I definitely needed it. Today I'll be going to visit Yakcheonsa, a Buddhist temple right outside Seogwipo and apparently the largest in Asia! :)

I gotta make this one brief, I'm battling my host brother Kyeong-Hwan in Quake 3 (he loves the railgun) ... but I had the most amazing day. Woke up at 6:45 because I didn't know if I should bid the family farewell in the morning ... turns out that they usually don't make breakfast but they made one especially for me this morning - sausage, bacon, eggs sunny side up, homemade apple turnovers and rolls, and fruit. The food here is to die for. Played with the dogs and games with Kyeong-Hwan in the morning, and then left for the school with my coteacher Kim Soo-Hee. Turns out the vice principal is a jolly fellow fond of singing random songs whenever he likes (my kinda guy), majored in English so he speaks pretty well, and a lot of fun to be around. We went out for lunch at this place that served a sort of bibimbap (rice and veggies and eggs mixed together) only with squid tentacles and some clams ... it's a lot better than it sounds guys. You learn to love the tentacles. Sat by the beach and enjoyed the view until a storm rolled in ... best wind ever on a humid day. Got to watch a 2 inch spider sense the weather change and actually roll up her web in front of us, it was fascinating. We all spoke enough English to laugh and make jokes which was very nice. Got to see my school and meet hundreds of people whose names I'll hopelessly never remember ... for the first week. I've gotta get them eventually though! ;) Saw the "English Zone" of the school which is wallpapered in really cool notable quotes in English - Emerson, Einstein, even Cicero ... and really random adages like "Finder's Keepers" which was posted above a urinal in the bathroom. Don't want to guess on that one. I have my own office ... !! Okay well, a desk and one half of a room, but hey ... my own office :D Went out and got a bank account, looked around at cell phones and figured out they were a little too expensive, and it looks like my host family is going to give me one of their old ones. They love technology here, I'm typing on a maybe 24 inch flat screen computer, and they have a wall-mounted flatscreen in the living room which is ungodly huge. The lap of luxury. ;)

I was about to fall asleep in mid-afternoon in Kim Soo-Hee's car when she told me that my host mother wanted to visit her at work. She works as a cook in an International Convention Center next to the World Cup Stadium. It's a ginormous building with amazing views, they host all sorts of international conferences all year. I thought I might be going to see her kitchen and maybe have a bite to eat, but when we meet her she motions us around this cavernous maze into a side door of ... a Chinese tumbling show ! Did you guys see Ocean's 11 with the little Chinese man and the two-pole jumping act? Well picture that times a hundred. These kids were maybe 10-15 years old jumping all over each other, juggling beach balls upside down, swinging and tossing each other from swings 25 feet in the air, and man. Wow. The day got better and better. :) Did of course end up meeting her ajjima work buddies in the cafeteria, eating some good kimchi and rice and noodles and soup, and then sitting up in the ocean view lounge that had a 270 degree view of the best beach in Korea.

:D

Well my host mother just brought me some keom-cha (lemon green tea) and some cookies, so I'm going to go sit outside in the living room. Goodnight all. :)

Homestay Day 1
Cups of green tea (nok-cha): 3-4 (they already know i love tea!)

Oh man there's so much to talk about. Got to know my coteacher really well on the way here, and we just made our flight by like 4 minutes. ;) She is easy to talk to but I think doesn't get the same humor so sometimes the subtleties of the conversation are lost. Unfortunately I don't know if she's going to be a good activity partner, she doesn't like being outside and doesn't even know how to swim ! But she does like to go to noraebang. :D Her favorite thing to say about me is "You like .... everything!" I shocked her when I said I didn't like coffee. ;) Today I'm going to my school, meeting my vice principal and having lunch, and then going to set up a bank account and get a cell phone. What a day !

My host parents are both very sweet and have made me feel welcome. The first thing they said was, "do you like dogs?" --- :) :) They have two of them, um-sheh (sp?) and jeong, both sort of pug-like mutts that are absolutely adorable. They climb all over everyone and love to bite and play and yip like the little lapdogs they are. They are so loved by the family, the father kisses them all the time. My host father likes to take photographs, watch sports and play badminton ... there's a World Cup stadium right around the corner from the house (I can see it from the balcony) and he and his friends play there every night apparently, I asked him if I could come play too. My host mother works as a cook at a nearby convention center and made the most delicious meal last night ... bulgogi, noodles, kimchi, pancakes, the works. Oh my god, amazing.

My host sister is off in Malaysia and Hong Kong right now as part of a championship English speaking contest. Looks like I'll have an interpreter when she gets back next week! My host father is a taxi driver and speaks a little English, and my host brother and I have been bonding for the last hour or so this morning over video games, and I've gotten him to talk a little too. He says things like "good gun" and "one more kill!" I can already tell we're gonna be buddies. ;) He showed me this cool first person shooter game called Gunz Duel where you get guns and swords, and right now he's playing Quake 3 in my room. Okay well, gotta go put on my first day of school outfit ... let's see if I remember how to tie a tie ... ;)

Oh I almost forgot -- we went to this cute little shop that sold only green tea (hot and cold) in Seoul ... mashissayo! The one I ordered was second from the bottom, second from the right. 

(CUP COUNT:1)
My journey begins now.

I'm sitting here at my dad's Powerbook G4 at the kitchen table, my luggage is in the car ready to go, and yes - I'm drinking a cup of tea. The tea is Numi Monkey King Jasimine Green Tea, and it's delicious. I don't think I know enough tea-drinkin words to describe the subtleties, but it makes me feel like a monkey king, wooping around the forest, swinging from trees and making a monkey-king crown out of leafy greens and banana peels. I think Korea will be something like that. ;)

Anyway, it's time to head out, so the next time I post in here I'll be in KOREA !! I just want to say - thank you all for being so amazing these past few weeks. It's been harder than I thought to pack up and go, and I'll miss you all very very much. Expect some kitschy Korean souveniers in the mail as soon as I can get to a post office. Talk to all'ya'll soon ! :D

Every night after dinner, if I go outside, I can hear what sounds like Italian opera from my neighbor's backyard. Tonight I was finishing up some landscaping in the yard for my parents, and I felt myself getting lost in it, this strange anti-suburban melody mixing up my after-dinner routines and throwing me headlong into the crescendo of a dramatic movie.  


My emotions have been all over the place these past few days, and I think most of my problem is that in being home, I can't see anything past my own nose. I need something as simple as incomprehensible opera to drag me out of my own head. I've been doing nothing but making packing lists and saying goodbye (annyonghi kyeseyo! ^_^) to everyone, and I don't really stop to realize why I'm doing all of this. I'm going to Korea in 5 days. And when I really think about it, there's nothing else I'd rather be doing, for real. Those words hold a power I've never felt before in my life. I'm doing exactly what I'd like to do, if I could do anything in the world. :) 


I've been drinking a tea called Bija, and I'm too lazy to google it right now, it's almost time for bed. ;) But I'll say this - it's the only tea that I need to take the teabag out after a few minutes. I like my tea strong, and this one's the richest I've ever tasted. Here's to richness! Anyhow, hope you guys like that one of Kristin, the Pink Crusader. That's me and Becca, and Elisabeth (those are prescription, believe it or not!) ... thanks again for an awesome party last weekend, guys :)  

From a Yogi Tea bag: "Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light." Yeah. :)

two weeks ...

That's right, two weeks from today I'll be sitting on a cramped plane just heading out over LAX airport toward Seoul. I'll be living with a host family somewhere in South Korea on a Fulbright, teaching English and doing a little side research on Buddhist values in Korean sustainable communities. Yeah, I'm a little scared of the culture shock (and the fact that I speak no Korean, shhhhh!), but mostly I'm itching get back on the road again. :)

My friend Jennifer and I had the idea to do some travel writing when she comes out to travel in the winter months, and we decided to center it around the experience of tea - drinking, sharing, smelling, tossing hot cups on would-be thieves, and the like. Offering a cup of tea to a stranger seems to be aquintessential act of hospitality - it's something that takes the focus away from making small talk about the weather, it's a shared sense experience that can bring people together. Plus it's damn tasty. I't similar I guess to sharing a pint, but with alcohol there's sometimes the assumption of sexual interest, where tea is definitely neutral. Neither of us are tea coinosseurs by any means, and I think that will make this project even more interesting. At least we won't be snooty! We did however make a vow to try the most exotic types of tea we can find, starting in our own houses and grocery stores. My current favorite's still Earl Gray (in honor of Capt. Picard) but I'm sure might change.

Anyway, since this blog *is* called the tea diaries, I thought I'd start off the first post with an actual diary entry, about tea. This is from the little black book I carry around with me, from about a week ago. I went to my favorite cafe, The Trident Bookstore, on Newbury Street. Here goes:

"Monday, June 13th
Boston, MA 2:51 PM
Gen Mai Cha (green tea)
I'm trying to place the smell - it's a food small. I want to say faintly of seaweed - sushi seaweed? But subtle, not overpowering. SESAME. that's it. I'm sitting at the 'bar' here at Trident, waiting for Becca and reading Utne Reader. It's a little slow so it's been comfy and I've been talking to the waitress a bit. The customers here never seem rushed, everyone just soaks the feel of the place in. Definitely a great spot to chill out (and they have free WiFi!)."

So that's the general format, though I'm sure I'll deviate quite a bit. I'm planning on throwing as many pictures and movies up here as I can as well, you know ... MULTIMEDIA! Seems like that's what all the cool kids are doing these days ;)

I also learned from the bottom of a Snapple bottle cap that the term "tsiology" means anything written about tea. So I guess this is a tsiology. It's not a very well-known word, in fact it's not in the dictionary but if you google it you'll find something. I didn't make it up, I swear.