Trying something new is always an experience...

Trying something new is always an experience. Whether it's a good or bad experience is quite another matter!

Take for example food: Thursday night me and my colleagues went out to dinner and had Sam Gyup Sal - Grilled pork and kimchi wrapped in lettuce leaves and it was amazing! Korean food has such a great social element to it, it's all about sharing and experiencing new flavours. - definitely a huge tick in the good experience column.

However, with every good experience a bad one is usually lurking nearby.... Bring the Brit that I am I went in search of a tea room - of course those of you who know me are aware that I hate English tea with a passion but love green and peppermint teas - not something I thought would be hard to find in a country whose culture also has a strong tea obsession. And yet, 10 days after landing I have yet to find a tea room that didn't belong to a huge American chain...

Noting my distress Gina suggested we look on our way to work for somewhere. We walked past a shop with a plant as its logo, a selection of boxes (including dried leaves) and some tables inside and thought winner! We venture inside with baited breath and were greeted by a friendly Korean man who asked us what we would like, 'tea' we replied, 'o, I see' He said with a smile 'I'm sorry this isn't a tea shop, we sell red ginseng- but you are welcome to try it'.

Armed with our best travelers 'hell, we'll try anything' heads on, we sat down and in due course were brought over a cup containing... well frankly watery brown sludge! With the best English manners I could muster I took of swig (secretly praying that appearance's were deceiving).... well as I said trying something new is always an experience....As the cold liquid slid down my throat and my taste buds wept at the atrocity that had just befallen them I fixed my best 'o how pleasant' smile on my face and tried my hardest not to throw up.

To my dismay I had only managed to drink half a cup full while the salesman, clearly oblivious to the fact I was secretly cursing him and his wretched shop for ever introducing me to this taste, talked on about the wonderful benefits of red ginseng and the wonderful ways one can imbibe this magical root. So with a courage and strength that the Greek gods would have been proud I took the final gulp, forcing the liquid into the pit of my stomch where I prayed it would remain.

We smiled, thanked the salesman profusely and left in what can only be discribed as an attempt at a dignified canter!

But still, I tried something new.

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