There's a Cockroach in my Teapot!

I slept like a baby last night, the combination of a steady, light rain through the wee morning hours, an open window filtering cool early-autumn air above my head, and a cozy blanket to warm me. I could have slept in for hours, straddling that fuzzy line between awake and asleep, until I had felt sufficiently lazy and well beyond rested.

But, duty called this morning; I am running against a ticking clock to write up 119 report cards for my students, complete with personal comments, before noon today. And then, this afternoon, I begin administering written tests (which I spent most of last week writing) to those same 119 students. Ugh. This is the ugly side of working at a highly respected private language academy.

So, emerging from my deep slumber, I shuffled across the floor to my cabinet, pulled out my highly prized bag of pure South American Yerba Mate (if you're wondering where I managed to find this in South Korea, don't -- this is one of the "luxury items" I managed to bring along in my luggage.), and set about spooning its loose-leaf contents into my shiny silver measuring spoon.

Just a few weeks ago, while on a shopping trip at the local supermarket, Seosan Mart, I splurged on a shiny new kettle that won my heart when I popped the lid to reveal a steeping chamber for loose-leaf teas. Since that day, it's been put to use on a number of occasions, though I admit I've been a little too lazy lately to boil water on the stovetop, having a filtered water dispenser that emits near-boiling water with the touch of a button. But today, with the rain plinking down and the whisper of autumn breezes beckoning from my open window, a "proper" pot of tea was calling to me.

I'm somewhat of a new kid of the block when it comes to the wide world of teas. Being raised in a Mormon home, teas were always off-limits, with the exception of the occasional fruity herbal tea picked up at the market, or a batch of Mom's "Mormon tea," which was actually a cup of milk warmed on the stove and sweetened with sugar to taste. Over the past few years, however, I've managed to "educate" myself a little about the wonderful world of steeped beverages, and have reached one epiphanic (is that a word?) conclusion: teas are magnificent!

I could go into a soliloquy on the health benefits of teas (with green and Yerba Mate high on my list of healthy favorites), and maybe I will, if you'll indulge me for a minute...

Yerba Mate, a wonder crop of South American origins, is more than a tea, it's a deeply-rooted and treasured tradition. The tea is prepared daily in many countries in the early afternoon, just following siesta, to help enliven and energize the masses as they wake from their tw0-hour nap and get back to work. It's normally prepared in a special cup (a mate cup) and and sipped through a bombilla, which is more or less a steel straw with a built-in filter (so that all the loose leafs don't make their way to your mouth). (I don't know all of this from personal experience... I've yet to make it to South America myself, but I find the whole cultural tradition quite fascinating.)

So other than being a cool South American custom, why Yerba Mate? For starters, it's gentler on the body than coffee, which can tend to cause jitters. In fact, it's even been "prescribed" for use by people who have to stop using caffeine-containing products for health reasons. With its high concentration of pantothenic acid, it prevents overstimulation of your nervous system, so that you get the benefits of increased energy, boosted metabolism (yes, it can boost your metabolic rate by as much as 25%), and reduced appetite, without the jitters that a cuppa joe often brings on. It's non-addictive, and non-habit-forming as well, which my body appreciate. Finally, yerba mate is also high in magnesium, which eases anxiety (how many "energy" drinks do you know that can do that?), and anti-oxidants, which can boost immunity from colds and flus and help cleanse your body of toxins. (You probably didn't figure you'd be reading about South American teas on a Life-in-Korea blog today, did you? Are you sold yet?)

Thanks for the indulgence. Now, back to this morning. Ready to steep my own South American wake-up cup, I lifted the lid off of my shiny metal teakettle, and pulled out the tea leaf basket, only to find a six-legged visitor lurking in the basin of my teapot. A cockroach had somehow managed to crawl its way in! This was mildly disturbing, since I don't normally flavor my teas with insects. Kidding. What's really disturbing is the thought that there are cockroaches in my kitchen... (Okay Dad, I confess, I haven't been washing my dishes up right after dinner, I'll do better!) My only thought is that the little critter crawled inside while my teapot was left to dry upside-down in the dish rack last week. But who really knows...

A thorough scouring and longer-than-normal boiling session later, my teapot was steaming with freshly brewed Yerba Mate and I was again a happy camper. And I'm sipping it now, while the rain still patters outside my window, which reminds me, I've got to get on those 119 report cards pronto...

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If you'd like to read more about the tradition of drinking Yerba Mate, check it out here: The Yerba Mate Story
Interested in a PhD perspective on its health benefits? Try this: Does Yerba Mate Contain Any Caffeine?
Ready to buy your own blend and start sipping? Shop here: Loose-Leaf Yerba Mate

A Spoonful of Sugar (or Corn Syrup) Helps the Vinegar Go Down

My pomegranate-flavored bubble has been burst... I just learned (after doing some virtual shopping on Hmart.com, that the number one ingredient in my new favorite "health drink" is high-fructose corn syrup, otherwise known as the single biggest calorie vacuum in the Western world.... HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) is the very stuff laced in processed, packaged foods back home, particularly the ubiquitous Coca-Cola (and most every other soft drink made in the USA).

I had just yesterday stumbled upon an insightful article on Mercola.com (which is, as far as I know, the most popular natural health website in the world). The article, "The Plague of High Fructose Corn Syrup in Processed Foods," spoke to the ill effects of consuming HFCS. And I tend to agree with him: corn syrup is essentially a calorie bomb, devoid of nutrients, and complicates a number of health problems that the Western world is already battling against, namely heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

According to Dr. Mercola,

"Part of what makes HFCS such an unhealthy product is that it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar, and, because most fructose is consumed in liquid form, its negative metabolic effects are significantly magnified...
To add insult to injury, the corn that the high fructose corn syrup is metabolized from nearly all comes from genetically modified corn which is fraught with its own well documented side effects and health concerns."

So I guess I'll have to scale back my head-over-heels infatuation with my syrup-sweetened pomegranate vinegar a bit... though I'm still sold on consuming vinegar as a health tonic. It's been keeping the Chinese going, after all, for over 3,000 years...

Drinking Vinegar... It Does a Body Good

Say the words "health drink" and, depending on which part of the world you claim as home, any of the following would naturally come to mind: For Europeans, a tall glass of drinking yogurt... For Turks, a cup of kefir... For Indians, a smooth, cool lassi... My fellow Americans might reach for an order of something freshly squeezed from the juice bar, with heaven forbid, some lab-processed whey protein and additives mixed in for good measure. Or maybe a sports bottle of Gatorade to restore all those lost electrolytes from a mega cardio session at the gym... that's healthy, right? :)

Flip to the Asian side of the world, and it's a different story altogether. The health tonic of choice in Korea and Japan is nothing dairy- or yogurt-related, but a vinegar instead. Drinking vinegar, you say? Your nose is already wrinkling up with distaste at the prospect of sipping a vinegar on purpose. Yes, vinegar. But not just any vinegar. There's apple, raspberry, pomegranate, black currant, and others to choose from... With such delicious fruits to balance out the puckering bite of a pungent mouthful, you can maybe start to imagine that sipping a drinking yogurt is more than strictly medicinal: it can actually be something of a culinary experience.

Weeks ago, I picked up a couple bottles of pomegranate vinegar on special at the supermarket. I had noticed on more than a few occasions, while combing the store aisles, the neatly shelved smoked-glass bottles taunting me with their colorful labels and slender design. I had looked them over carefully, eyeing the packaging, trying to decide which of the many flavors would be first to come home with me. I remembered vaguely reading something about pomegranate's health properties and, as it's always been something of an exotic fruit to me, the sale price provided the final bit of arm-twisting needed to land a couple of shiny bottles of pomegranate drinking vinegar in my shopping cart.

I'm not a stranger to vinegar myself. I began a habit a little over a year ago of swirling a spoonful each of apple cider vinegar and honey in a mugful of water, and sipping on it slowly during my morning commutes. I had read about the health benefits of vinegar during some in-depth research on cleansing, detoxification, and natural health. I was impressed to learn that a simple spoonful of vinegar could aid my digestion, boost my energy, improve my circulation, moderate my blood sugar, and even speed my metabolism. I was sold!

After coming to Korea, ironically, I fell out of the habit. And sadly, even after my great buy at the market weeks ago, the bottles were stashed unopened among boxes of cooking supplies soon to be shuttled to my new apartment. So it wasn't until today that I unearthed the vinegar, popped off the lid, and mixed up my first real Korean vinegar drink. And if I was a believer in the power of the almighty vinegar before (which I was), today I became a born-again drinker. Mid-glass, I began to imagine mixing my new favorite flavor with seltzers and club sodas, pouring it over ice in a frosted martini glass, spritzing it with a splash of vodka, garnishing it with a plump cherry. Yes, it was really that good! Its flavor was a perfect blend of sweet, fruity notes and sophistication. I think I've discovered my new favorite beverage.

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For more information on drinking vinegars, where to buy them and how to mix them, try the following websites:
DrinkingVinegar.com
Health Benefits of Drinking Vinegar
HMart Online Asian Grocery

And some other blogs with good vinegar info:
Pomegranate Vinegar Drink (including a recipe for making it from scratch)
My Korean Diet (scroll down to the Drinking Vinegar section)

A Leisure Walk Around Lake Park

I've been holed up in my cheery little apartment for most of the weekend, forced to cancel my already-up-in-the-air plans to adventure up north to the islands of Ganghwado and Muuido (just off the coast of Incheon) after waking to an unsettled stomach Saturday morning. It seems that with the changing of seasons, and with the bursts of hot and cold air that vie for top billing from one day to the next, colds and sniffles are bound to come knocking on our door. So I suppose it wasn't much of a surprise to feel that my mind and body needed nothing more than peace, quiet, and rest -- a mini-retreat to heal and recondition -- before starting what promises to be a hectic workweek.



Saturday was the perfect stay-indoors day. Rain hurtled down through deep layers of gray clouds on and off from early morning when my eyes opened until the sun had long gone down. Cool winds blew through my apartment windows, the coolest I've felt thus far in Korea, sending me to my wardrobe for a sweatshirt and then crawling under my bedcovers to keep my toes cozy and warm. I managed to spend the entire day reading, resting, skimming new recipes, catching up on emails, making a few overseas phonecalls, cooking some soul food, and falling into a relaxed rhythm that felt just delicious.

Today, still craving quietness and downtime, I stayed in again, hoping to continue recharging my batteries and focus on a few personal projects. At some point in the day, I told myself, I'd get out for some fresh air and sunshine, especially since the day promised to be a beautiful one -- the air clearer and the temperature cooler from yesterday's showers, with bright blue skies and billowy clouds to entice me out.

Catching up on a few of my favorite blogs, I ran across a recent posting by my friend Michael, who lives not so far away in a busy urban sprawl in big-city Cheonan. His piece took me on a virtual walk through his neighborhood, to the bank, the local bakery, and past a park where local families swung their badminton rackets back and forth with gusto. I chuckled to myself as I read, because the imagery was so vivid, and so true to life in Korea.

Finally, around 5 pm, I headed out the door with my camera in hand, ready to pedal my bike down to Seosan's newest attraction, the beautiful Lake Park (which enjoyed its official opening ceremonies this weekend, and which, had completely slipped my mind). I had been here just two weeks ago, the day after moving into my new apartment, and had been so impressed with the beautifully landscaped surroundings that I vowed to return with my camera and capture some of its ambience. As the sun was starting to sink slowly in the sky, I figured I had just enough time to take a leisure walk around the park and savor a quiet Sunday evening in Seosan.



It took only a second or two after arriving to realize that there wasn't much peace and quiet to be had at the park this evening. Huge carnival tents flanked the southern edge of the park, where vendors offered a curious mix of cotton candy, fried peanut cakes, skewered meats, and boiled silkworms. Karaoke singers dressed in shiny hanbok costumes performed energetically on a stage overlooking the lake, and the whole area was crawling with young kids on bicycles, fathers and sons batting at badminton birdies, old men enjoying a smoke together, families parading along the inlaid-stone walking path. A large banner, hoisted by two helium balloons, flew over the lake, announcing to all that this was a day to be celebrated.

So I began my stroll around the park, feeling like something of a cross between a sore thumb and a celebrity as this solo "waegookin" (foreigner in Hangul) was approached again and again by the young and the curious who wanted to say hello to me. I don't know how I could still be a novelty in Seosan after being here for three months already, but these little faces were washed with such genuine curiosity that I couldn't help but feel a spirit of camaraderie with them. It was the least I could do, for all the energy they were sending in my direction, to offer a big hello and even bigger smile in return.

I stayed long enough to see the sun disappear behind a mountain of apartment buildings to the west, and content with my explorations for one day, headed back the way I came, ready to finish out the weekend with a little more R&R at home. It was refreshing to see a nice slice of Korean life at the park this evening, to be reminded that I am surrounded by thousands of people who, despite language and cultural barriers, are at the core much the same as me. Tonight I was part of the neighborhood, hanging out with Seosan's families and enjoying a pleasant celebration with my local community. And perfectly enough, it really did feel like home.

Reclaiming Happiness: Our Greatest Freedom

There has been a subtle building of negative emotion within me over the past week, which I haven't been able to pinpoint entirely until yesterday mid-morning, when I heard myself voicing a laundry list of concerns and worries to my best friend Jenny during a lengthy heart-to-heart phonecall. I've never been big on following the news, partly because I tend to be too wrapped up in my own little world, but mostly because I find it overwhelmingly depressing to hear about all of the terrible, horrible things going on in the world around me.

But during the past several weeks, I've been turning more and more to world news reports, as my daily "staff meeting discussions" (a.k.a. English practice for Harrison and Terry) have focused on U.S. politics, the upcoming election, recent plummets in the economy, hurricanes and natural disasters, and concerns over the stability of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il. There has been no end of bad news in sight. And unfortunately, being exposed so many problems and their potential effects within a relatively short period of time has not left me unscathed.

It all came tumbling out yesterday, in what turned out to be more of a vent session than a mutually uplifting chat. Which got me thinking... What good can come of filling your mind with such pessimism? Sometimes information is not power, but a hindrance. There has to be some way of being aware of the world's happenings without getting pulled into the powerful vortex of negative thought. What I heard myself saying as I spoke with Jenny was, beyond anything else, fear of the unknown, wondering how I would respond, adapt, survive, thrive, if the world as we know it were to suddenly and drastically change? What if the economy suddenly crashed? What if war broke out in North Korea, just a few hundred kilometers away? What if, what it, what if...

So it was perfect timing that I finished reading an incredibly simple yet profound book called "Zen and the Art of Happiness," written by Chris Prentiss. I took it with me to Seoul last weekend, and finished it in the quiet space of early morning today, while still wrapped underneath my thin cotton bedsheets. The central message of this book can be summarized in one very important sentence: "Everything that happens to me is the best possible thing that can happen." Regardless of whether an illness befalls you, or you lose your job, or a friend, or your right arm, the path to happiness is as simple as acting as though whatever is causing the difficulty is for your maximum benefit. Not trying to find a shred of good that you can salvage from your miserable circumstances. Instead, actually believing that every event which comes to you is absolutely the best possible event that could occur, and that there is actually no other event that could benefit you any more than the circumstances you are currently experiencing.

Those are big thoughts, and quite unattractive to wrap your head around if you're used to perceiving life as most of us tend to do -- a series of hurdles to jump through, challenges to face, and uphill battles to fight. I am grateful to say that some time ago I removed myself from the grip of these limiting thoughts. Still, as this week has shown, my personal weaknesses can lead me back into the cloud of pessimism and confusion that stunt my ability to experience happiness in my life.

As I contemplate the unknown, the constantly shifting world around me, and my place within it, I have to acknowledge that thus far in my life, I have benefited incredibly from the experiences (which we humans conveniently label as "good" and "bad"), that life has presented to me. And as I had an opportunity to discuss with one of my middle school classes yesterday, the happiness that we feel within from one day to the next does not depend on anything other than our very own selves, our very own minds. We are truly the authors and creators of every next moment of our lives. We bring into our lives the energy and gravity of hope, happiness, and positive thought, or the energy and gravity of its polar opposite: fear, unhappiness, and negative thought.

I shared with them the inspirational story of Victor Frankl, a well-renowned psychologist and university professor who survived the concentration camps of the Holocaust, due to his diligence in maintaining a mindset of hope and belief, even amid such terrifying and unthinkable circumstances. He later went on to write a book entitled "Man's Search for Meaning," in which he elaborates on the one simple truth that paved the way to his mental, spiritual, and physical survival of the camps: Man's last freedom, the freedom which no one can ever take from you, is his response in any situation.

Browsing the Internet this morning, I came across a well-written weblog article that caused me to also stop and reflect on this power within us to choose happiness. In it, the author, a writer and traveler named Lee, shared his powerful response to visiting Tuol Sleng, a children's school turned into a living graveyard for prisoners during Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime. I too had an emotional reaction as I read his words, my mind harking back to the vivid images, sensations, and feelings I kept with me during a viewing of the film "The Killing Fields", which I watched a year ago.

I cannot help but feel my own struggles, fears, and worries pale miserably in comparison when I am reminded of the challenges that countless others have faced, and continue to face, as they live out their lives in war-torn and poverty-ridden nations throughout the world. Yet even despite such extreme circumstances, the human spirit and its capacity to find meaning, hope, and happiness, prevails. It is a powerful message to each of us, isn't it? Happiness is... all around us, percolating inside us, holding its outstretched hand out to us, patiently, faithfully calling to us. My life is too precious to me to spend my days feeling trapped beneath the weight of endless worries. Thank you Chris, Victor, and Lee, for reminding me of what I had forgotten. I choose happiness.

Keeping it in the Bank: Waiting out the Dollar's Downward Tumble

The U.S. economy has been center-stage in discussions with my staff over this past week, as the tumbling stock market and the fallout of large companies going bust have ranked on the front-page headlines in Korea's major newspaper. The almighty U.S. dollar has a strong global impact, as I am learning first-hand from my humble post in this small-ish, export-driven Asian country.

A conversation with my dad several days ago clued me in that several big-name U.S. corporations were floundering -- and going bankrupt, all of which only perpetuates the state of fear and economic concern that propels recession and market instability. It is extremely disconcerting to learn that high-profile companies who have been around for decades have suddenly vaporized with the most recent of market tumbles. When such disaster looms for the "big guys," you start to worry about how its effects are going to trickle down to you. Because sooner or later, they will. Even if you're living across the pond in Korea.

Before coming to Korea this past summer, I studied conversion tables, trying to get a handle on the rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and the Korean Won. The dollar was worth roughly 1,000 won, give or take, although during the early part of 2008, it was a very favorable 970K - 980K won to the dollar.

During the past three months that I've been living overseas, the value of the dollar has declined noticeably, enough that I've decided to hold off on money transfers back to the States in hopes that it will pick back up again. Certainly money wasn't the only reason I chose to come to Korea, but the opportunity to save a healthy chunk of change was definitely a big factor in the equation that led me here.

Last week's U.S. stock market nosedive resulted in a sizeable devaluation of the dollar here as well. I've suddenly found my salary and savings slashed by a whopping 20%. There's no other way to say it -- OUCH! My only solace is to keep in mind that in time, the market always evens itself out. But how long will it take to recover from recent downward trends? Will the dollar continue to plunge for months to come? How much farther will it fall? Are we heading towards a severe economic depression, as many financial analysts are forecasting? Or is this just a painful hiccup that will go away on its own without much more financial crisis?

For the time being, at least, I'll be keeping my earnings right here in Korea. And I'm lucky, in that regard, that I have a fairly long stretch to wait out a possible recovery. For those expats who don't have the same flexibility, particularly TEFL teachers who are ending contracts and returning home within the next month or two, their earnings can't help but be painfully squeezed. I'll be keeping an eye on the economy, to be sure. And in the meantime, I'll be hopeful that Americans won't lose their confidence in the economy. A further market collapse is one self-fulfilling prophecy this world doesn't need.

Time is Marching On...

You know that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you remind yourself of something you really need to do, and the longer you wait, the more behind you get? That's the feeling I've been trying to dislodge ever since my last major blog catch-up session. I've fallen terribly behind yet again...

Time keeps marching by, and lots keeps happening. As I've crested the three-month mark for my time here in Korea, I realize that some things (namely, ME) don't change the world over... I am pretty much the same person regardless of where in the world I happen to be. So it shouldn't be too surprising that I've managed yet again to create a mountainous list of goals, projects, books to read, topics to study, places to go, and things to experience while in Korea that have gotten me running around in circles. I seem to think I am super-human and have at my disposal a wrinkle in time that allows me to elasticize my day into 59.2 hours instead of the customary 24.
It's time to re-evaluate and prioritize, I suppose, so that I feel a little better about what I'm actually accomplishing.

In all fairness, a lot has transpired since I last wrote:

• I led my first all-adult English class for some of Seosan's well-known doctors (which subsequently folded when they decided my rate was more than they were willing to pay).
• I gave my weblog an entirely new look (which was a lot more time-intensive than I had imagined, but I'm really happy with the outcome)
  
• I moved to a new apartment (which, though smaller, is a much sunnier, happier place to be). My dungeon days are over :)
• I traveled to Seoul (yes, actually staying overnight this time) over the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday weekend, and had a great opportunity to see a unique blending of modern and traditional Korean life as families celebrated around me.
• I hosted a traveler visiting from Germany, who is making her way through Mongolia, China, and now Korea as part of a gap year experience before returning to her home country to pursue her career.
• And now, I am trying to get back to some sort of normalcy this week, meanwhile preparing for the bi-monthly written report-and-grading fest which usurped so much of my time two months ago. (I'm hoping I'm a bit more efficient at it this time around, but time will tell).

While there isn't any way to make up for lost time over the past few weeks, I'm hoping to make up for my absence of entries with a peace offering -- I have just finished uploading several new albums to my Flickr account, which includes a whole album of Chuseok festivities (including little children in traditional dress, playing traditional games, making traditional foods, and other fun stuff). And while I won't make any promises, I'm going to TRY to get back around to writing up a bit more about the foregoing events, particularly the Chuseok holiday, so that I can share with you a bit of what I've learned about this important Korean holiday.

And now, I'm behind on my Korean homework, so I'm off to practice some more hangul before starting work for the day! Have a wonderful day, everybody, I'll write again soon!