A warm sip of peace

Tranquility.  Serenity.  Peace.  Good Health.  Equilibrium.

You’d like to have these everyday, wouldn’t you?  Of course some prefer the quick hustle bustle of a metropolitan life, but when you lead that type of life and you think of “getting away” or “vacationing” you seek a break from the continuous productivity and wish for nothing more than those words stated above.  Why do people go to spas?  Why do people do yoga?  Exxxactly!  Balance is key to everything, but you already know that.

Seoul and Daegu are pretty busy cities.  But if you look carefully, in the little nooks and crannies you’ll find little pearls of calm.  My uncle brought me to this place for a casual afternoon of tea time and I fell in love.  

[This wasn't a store full of teabags.  The tea came in all-natural circular bricks, stacked like this]

I was never a huge tea drinker.  It's supposed to be better than coffee so I tried, got the occasional sample from Teavana at the mall, even bought one of those really cool tea steepers that fit on a mug, but could never bring myself to sit down and enjoy a nice pot of tea.  Like anything else, if you take the time and really live in the moment, you'll discover things you were otherwise too busy or distracted to notice.  And you'll find those five things listed above. 

We gathered at a small table that was made of wood...but not like the plywood or processed oaks and maples you see most commonly.  This was one of those "I cut this straight from the tree trunk and it is one piece" tables.  Collected on top was a tray that drained the overflowing tea to a sink in the back and on top were several small teapots of glass and fired clay, a brush, and little clay figurines of Asian culture.  

[The luck pig]

The lady treating us to "tea time" had such a presence of peace, it radiated to create a little bubble of comfort and ease around us gathered at the table.  She gingerly poured the boiled water into the little fist-sized teapot several times, emptying after each pour.  

When it was finally ready to drink, she poured my mom, uncle, herself and me each a little tiny glass teacup of 보이차, pronounced bo-ee cha.  It's a type of tea that is extremely healthy for you, proven to help relieve a list of symptoms caused by stress and body imbalance including headaches, constipation, poor blood circulation, diabetes, and more.  Kind of like a miracle tea, it even helps with dieting!

Tasting various blends, we drank cup after cup after cup, casually chatting about cultural differences and the interesting behaviors of people in Europe compared to those of people in America.  No sugar, no preservatives, just straight up natural.  This of course, in two contexts.  The tea, as well as our conversation.  

These types of moments come few and far between.  I mean reflect on your own week, and try to think of how many times you sat and had a conversation with no facade, thoroughly enjoying the moment and not thinking of where you needed to be, what you needed to do next, and what else you could be doing.  Of course, we couldn't do this all the time...there would be no progress in society because being so content leads to no motivation to change anything.  But, I think to balance out the stress of a week's or even a day's activities, these kinds of things are needed. 

I took a class my freshman year of college, taught by Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinko's.  He's a very successful person, and had many great lessons to teach but one of the greatest bits of advice I took away, was to be dumb for an hour every day.  Allow yourself that one hour to be unproductive and do something that'll make you relax and reboot.  It's a very simple bit of advice, but I think if actually kept to, could go a long way.

So, my uncle gave me a little tea set and I am going to commit myself to tea time.  It's not even about the tea...the tea drinking is just a vehicle to that hour of tranquility.  It provides the opportunity, much like meeting for coffee allows for friendly conversation with a stranger.

  

Day 1. – Taking care of business

“Don’t cry over spilled milk.”  Definitely something I needed to keep in mind!  I don’t think I’ve ever before run into so many obstacles in such a short time period.  I started off the morning with trying to go on base.  When I think of home, I think of a military base.  It’s what I grew up with, always had access to, and have become most familiar with.  No matter where I’ve gone, there’s always been a base, which are all set up pretty similarly.  BUT now that I’ve graduated, I have no ID card and am refused entry. 

Attempt #1:  My mom and I took a taxi to Camp Walker here in Daegu to a) get a cellphone   b) go to the gym   c) shower and d) use the phone to call home 

Rejection #1:  I couldn’t be signed in unless my mom was registered in the system so we had to go to the other base.  After she registered, we went back to Camp Walker, used the gym, showered, and tried to get a phone.

Rejection #2:   I can’t get a phone from on base unless I have an ID so we registered under my mom for a temporary pay-as-you-go phone.

Rejection #3:  Found out I can’t get a phone plan until I have a visa AND a Korean bank account.  So now I have to get a bank account here in Korea.

After finding out that I am so restricted from using what I’ve been familiar with my entire life and how much I have to do just to get a phone, the discouragement rained down on me like the warm raindrops pouring down here in Korea.  Then as I went to throw away the paper towel I used to dry my hands with in the bathroom, I saw this:

Such an encouraging little trash can!  Even though it was on a trashcan, it reminded me to keep positive.  Hard work will pay off eventually right?  :]

Rejection #4:  Once I got to the Consulate or whatever the place you register for a visa is called, I was assuming that I’d get a renewed one on the spot since I had one before.  Naaaah, they sent us across the street to get my mom’s paperwork and then told us mine wouldn’t be ready for another 4 weeks and I’d have to come back to pick it up.

Travelling around isn’t easy…especially if it’s 90 degrees with 250% humidity and rain.  

Cheerful moments:  I found this cute little coffee shop after 30 min of walking around looking for a PC bang (Internet café to send my dad an email that I landed safely)  and couldn’t help but stop to grab a latte.  The ambience was quaint…like a comfy little café should be!

[THE neatest fish tank I've ever seen!]

Korea. Day 1/2.

      FLYING OFF TO THE START OF MY NEW LIFE.

I guess that saying “practice what you preach” was said for a reason…and I should’ve kept it in mind.  If you go to my archives,  I think it’s the 2^nd post I ever made [Travelling Tips]  about a year ago, I  gave some tips on how to pack, but unfortunately didn’t read up on it before packing this time.  I learned a few more things in addition to those tips, though.  Having to pack my entire life into suitcases was a bit of a challenge, especially with how many shoes I never realized I had.  Anything I left behind, I probably wouldn’t see again so prioritizing the importance of certain items took about 14 consecutive hours.  By the end of it, I had 4 suitcases packed up and ready to go…one ENTIRE suitcase of shoes, each pair packed into its own separate zip-lock bag.  (The freezer ones are the perfect size)

[MORE] tips for travelling

Tip #1a:  Airlines have weight limits.  Weigh your stuff before you get to the airport to make sure EACH bag is the right weight.   DON’T think you can get away with a few extra pounds…the check-in po po will catch you.

Tip #1b: They weigh your carry-ons too.  So that whole “put all the heavy stuff in your carry-on so you don’t go over weight in your checked baggage” doesn’t work.  For a flight to Korea, you get 12 kilos for carry-on total.

Tip #1c:  If you know you’re going to be over in terms of weight, just pack as much stuff into one of your check-ins as much as you can and pay the extra 50 bucks…. because if you don’t, you’re going to end up paying $130 for an additional checked bag. 

Tip #2:   BRING A NECK PILLOW!!  I felt so bad for the halmoni (grandma) sitting next to me in the aisle seat…she couldn’t sleep the entire 14 hour plane ride because her head kept bobbing.

Other reminders:  Don’t go out and buy a brand new bottle of perfume and expect to take it in your carry-on unless it’s under 3 fl. Oz.  It WILL get taken away…even if it’s 3.2 fl. Oz. 

And

Keep your laptop handy where it can be taken out and put back in easily…you have to send it through to be scanned out and separate from the rest of your bags.

I watched about 5 or 6 movies…most of them pretty new, which made time fly pretty quickly but man I should’ve done some squats to prepare for the butt-flattening 14 hours of sitting! 

FINALLY ARRIVED.  Say hello to a new shade of life.

Ship Full of Treasures

I just felt the need to emphasize how amazing the amenities on the boat were.  

FIRST. QUALITY OF FOOD.

SECOND.  QUANTITY OF FOOD.

[Take notice that I am wearing something different in each picture. 

AKA. each is a different meal.

AKA. I ate alot.

AND this isn't even all of them!]

THIRD.  COOL AND FRIENDLY STAFF.

FOURTH.  THE CUTE TOWEL ANIMALS WE GOT EVERY MORNING.

[seal]

[stingray]

[...i wanna say a dog.  i left my sunglasses on the bed and the crew had quite the sense of humor :]]

FIFTH.  THE GREAT PHOTO OPS!

AND SIXTH.  THE BREATHTAKING VIEW.

And that was the family vacation cruise of 2011.