Pears + Jujubes (Chinese dates) + Bell Flower Roots = The best tea I've ever had in my life.
My favorite Korean teacher, Gloria, shared her amazing homemade tea with me yesterday. The root and jujube are supposed to help cure colds and be good for the immune system. She's going to bring me some jujubes and roots, so I can make my own. Sweet Gloria.
I didn't go to Seoul last weekend since I was sick and could barely talk. I pretty much slept the entire weekend and watched the third season of Weeds. I did, however, mail off my application for a Chinese visa, and we booked the flights. Whoo hoo Great Wall here I come!
So, there's a saying in the foreign community for things that baffle, amuse, or entertain us. It's "TIKI TIKI", which stands for:
T-his
I-s
K-orea
I-Because TIK would just sound stupid
Thus, I bring you "TIKI Tuesdays." From a vendor truck with a big face and sunglasses on the side to the latest Wonder Girls song, every Tuesday I will blog about something that's different or sparks my interest in Korea. This week I'll share the joys of Konglish: a Korean form of English that a). uses random word choice that typically doesn't make sense and b). is quite amusing.
Today I finally mustered up the courage and did it. That's right, I got naked with the adjumas. I took a cab to Yuseong (a part of the city I've never been to), found the spa, and stripped down. It took about ten minutes of pacing the locker room and avoiding eye contact to finally "throw in the towel" (yes, pun definitely intended). Inside the spa there were three different springs: cold, hot, and extra hot. I alternated between hot and extra hot. On the side of the room there were little stools and mirrors where women were scrubbing themselves down. They scrubbed their face, their body, their teeth...pretty much everything. They even had a table where you could lay down and have your own personal adjuma clad in a black bra and undies scrub you down. Interesting. There was also a sauna and red lamps to lay under (I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of the red lamps). It was a bit awkward at first, but it was definitely worth it. I left feeling relaxed and my skin felt baby soft...I think I've found my new Wednesday activity.
5 comments:
ajuma=naked people?
whattt scrubdowns from random people soud sinteresting. i'd probably try it. being in new places makes you want to do weird things.
we have a naked hot springs near my hometown. its called orvis. kind of sounds like orphus.
do you go for healing or something or is it just relaxation?
many questions and much love from my Sweet Love hearty appreciation.
haha!
ajuma = older lady
So how was spa trip #2? I love that you were pacing the locker room beforehand. Classic.
And you know, to this day, I use a really rough washcloth to scrub down - I guess it's what you grew up with.
I'm proud of you Elizabeth! (especially of your Korean...you can hang out my Korean church in Dallas and completely understand the peppering of the mother tongue here and there)
Oops, apparently "adjuma" has a "d".
The Wednesday spa trip has been postponed until this weekend. I hiked the mountain instead!
Oh, geez. My Korean is lacking. I just pick up things here and there. Once all the craziness of the holidays is over, I'm starting Korean lessons!
Dude- I went in polynesian spas in NZ, only we weren't naked for it... Doesn't your skin feel amazing afterwards? Oh, and I totally agree with the relaxing part, sooo relaxing.
So, Konglish. Are they joking or do they really think that they're writing English? I can't figure out if it's a joke or not. You'd think they'd have an English-speaker read it before anything was printed. Anyhow, hilarious.
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