Sell Your Seoul Trip 2 - Day 2 - Bokjumeoni and Traditional Tea house in Insadong



After my morning coffee in a can, I packed up my back and embarked on a mission. The task at hand: to find han ji, a special type of Korean paper, and pok joo muh nee, mysterious "lucky pockets" that the Koreans distribute on New Years Day as a gesture of good fortune. Generally, the Korean elders distribute the messages of luck to younger members of the family. I have a feeling, however, that I will be handing them out to strangers later this week. I'm all about spreading the good vibe - so we'll see what the Sell Your Seoul campaign has in store for me down the road.

To get the materials, I ventured to Insadong Street, an area that was once the hub of antique trading in the city. Now, it generally sells goods to the middle class and foreigners (like me!). From what I hear, it's a pretty hot place to bring a date on a Friday night too. Couples can enjoy free music and dance classes in the plaza at the end of the street. Not this morning, however, as most people bustled by and darted inside the nearest doorway for warmth. Within minutes, I found exactly what I was looking for and ducked into "Oh, Ja Ne What Nun Ga?" What is this, you may ask? A Korean tea house, but with a twist. Inside, the place is set up like an old fashioned railroad car. Tracks run up and down between the tables and customers are free to take pen to the wall and graffiti away. As my friends can attest, I'm a big fan of writing on walls. I know, I know, it's not the nicest thing to do. But I abide by the rules and only do it where permitted - and boy is it allowed in here! Before I knew it, I had tagged a huge "Sandy Sold Her Seoul" on the wall. I had left my mark.

At the tea house, I tried a traditional Korean tea called Sang Hwa Cha. Filled with jujubees and cinnamon, it tasted like Christmas in a cup. Since I'm perpetually hungry due to a tape worm (unconfirmed) acquired somewhere in my many travels, I decided to give the rice cake another try. This time, I opted for the baked rice cake with honey. Once again, it was super chewy. Slathered in honey and warm on a cold winter day, it was definitely welcome in my belly and satiated the worm for the time being.

And here is where all of my years at summer camp and my addiction to perfection paid off. It was time for the ultimate arts and crafts challenge: write "In the New Year, I want you to have lots of luck." In Korean characters. Thirty times. Yes. Write this thirty times, vertically, without making a mistake. Fearful that I would accidentally wish someone bad luck or that my message would resemble that written by a kindergartner, I focused, steadied my hand, and put special pen to special paper. Let's just say that I surprise myself everyday. Who knew I was so skilled at writing in character? Sang In and Kyung Il were very impressed. Now they may just have been polite, but seriously, these are good! Check out the pictures for proof.



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