traditional chinese tea and how korean culture works

---

Ok, so classes are going well, I'm learning a lot about Korean culture and how the education system works. In politics I'm learning so much about Chinese philosophical thought and how it relates to modern government. Today we discussed Laozi in comparison to Mencius and Xunxi. Pretty deep. The impression I'm getting, from the students in my class, is that if you're not smart and if you don't work hard, you're a nobody. We were discussing the grade B+ - I didn't say anything but they implied that if they got a B+ it would be a pretty poor grade. Maybe that's because I'm attending a pretty good school in Korea, but the stress that's put on these students... wow I don't envy them. Saying that though, they're all super cultured and into international politics. From experience and from what people tell me, Korean men only talk about politics, military service and women. I keep asking 우동현 (donghyun woo) about his military service because I still can't believe that it's compulsory. I can't imagine my boyfriend going off to do service for two years and I'm glad I don't have to.



Me and my politics class decided to go to a traditional tea house, 5 minutes from campus in Nok Du (a studenty area full of bars and what looks like strip clubs). There is a free shuttle bus from the uni into the district which is handy! Shin teaches us the traditional way to serve tea which takes forever. Lots of washing and waiting. But it's fun and everyone has a go. I'd say it's definitely worth a visit if you haven't already gone to one, much more exciting then a coffee in Starbucks. I feel like I'm starting to bond much more with my classmates (even thought it has been only a week). I am obviously in the minority, but they try their best to make me feel welcome and speak English to me whenever they can.

Me and Shin head down to an Indian after 3 hours in the tea house and it tasted pretty good, nice to take a break from Korean food in the cafeteria. Not that I don't like it, but even the Koreans don't eat Korean food everyday. I hear from the guys in my class the kimchi and the soups that they serve at campus are what older Koreans eat, and young people generally eat at more western style places i.e the 'hofs' which serve chicken and beer. Literally a plate of chicken and pints of beer. The boys then rattle off tales of love and woe as I gently sip my several types of tea, one being called 'The Beauty of the East' and a green tea allegedly picked from an 800 year old tree.

For lunch today I also tried this soup which tasted so weird I couldn't even describe to you what it tasted like. Almost like aniseed? I was told it was the sesame leaves that made the soup taste so weird, an overpowering smell that put me off eating anything. I'm slowly building up my confidence to try new food which is good and even though I know I won't like it, it's good to definitely know for sure...

---