Sunday, August 17, 2008

Traditional Korean Tea



Tea has been very popular in East Asian countries. In Asia, tea is a kind of dessert like coffee in the USA people enjoy after having their meals. But there is a critical difference from coffee, tea is very helpful for health. A variety of teas have been used as an herbal remedy for a long time in Korea. Recently, as people are getting interested in well-being, a lot of tea rooms are showing up with healthy and nutritious tea. There are 3 main teas for health. First one is pomegranate tea which is well known for women’s hormone. Second, Cassia tea is well known for eyesight and last one is Yuja tea which is made from citron chronic colds. Most American must know green and black tea, but in addition to these teas, there are many teas people can enjoy for their health if they are introduced to the USA. Why not in the United States?

Saturday, August 9, 2008

“Trader Joe”, “Whole Foods”


Trader Joe and Whole Foods are one of the upscale markets specialized in selling healthy and organic food in the United States. Compared to Ralphs, Walmart, and Costco, it is more expensive in food price, but people are satisfied with it as long as it is believed that they are selling organic food. People are willing to buy their health.
In Korea, there are a lot of big markets like Emart, and Lotte mart but they don’t specialize in organic food and rather, it seems that they are mixed with Ralphs and Costco. They are selling food in large quantity, and around some corner, there are some tasting table like Costco. They are selling some organic foods which are limited to a few menus. Korean people are more getting interested in their health and trying to have the high standard of living as much as they can. I think that organic and healthy foods are still a privilege for the rich in Korea. If the organic food markets like Whole Foods, and Trader Joe enter into Korean market, I am sure that they will be successful and many Korean people can enjoy it at the lower price than now.

Why not in Korea?

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

"A Bathhouse Immersed In Tradition"



Inside the 127-degree Red Clay Ball room, Kum Sun Hong, 54, and her husband, Song Hong, 59, nestled amid thousands of hazelnut-size spheres that covered the floor, a kind of grown-up sandbox touted as "great for removing inner body toxins."
Nearby in the igloo-shaped Amethyst Gem room, two women sat chatting while a man sprawled on a mat, soaking up the "energy oscillating waves" said to cure ailments. In the main hall, where Korean pop music played softly from hidden speakers, people dressed in mandatory loungewear -- men in yellow, women in orange -- lay on the 104-degree onyx floor, their heads resting on brick-shaped pillows, their ears covered with towels twisted to form buns.
Behind the modest facade of a 1980s-era Fairfax County strip mall, Korean entrepreneurs have brought a slice of their homeland to their new land: a much-awaited, $15 million jimjilbang, a Korean-style sauna and bathhouse. But patrons and community leaders say the sleek Spa World Resort in Centreville is as much a cultural milestone as a business, reflecting both the size and evolution of the Washington region's Korean community.
The area's Korean immigrant population is the third largest in the nation at about 59,000, according to 2006 census data, and the number of Korean-owned businesses jumped 21 percent from 1997 to 2002. After reshaping Annandale's commercial offerings and settling in large numbers in Montgomery and Fairfax counties, Koreans in recent years transformed Centreville's storefronts, schools and congregations.
Along the way, they have branched out from small enterprises to big chains and property development; Spa World is owned by a Korean construction company and golf course owner and is housed in a strip mall owned by a Korean supermarket mogul. Yet although luxurious Korean spas exist in the Los Angeles and New York areas, homes to the two biggest Korean communities, there was none here until recently.
"We have been waiting for a long time, because we have to travel to New York to go experience the spa," said Kevin Park, an Annandale-based reporter for the Korea Times. "Because we have a brand-new spa, we don't have to go up to New York."
The word "spa" does not quite begin to describe a jimjilbang, a recent Korean cultural phenomenon that grew out of a centuries-old public bathhouse tradition and now ranks first among "10 Unique Korean Customs & Practices," according to an October Korea Times article. Spa World is a 24-7 complex with a floor space nearly that of a football field, a Korean restaurant, smoking and sleeping rooms, a gym and a child-care center.
"In Korea, this is a family gathering place. They gather together and enjoy the full service," Spa World's owner, Sang K. Lee, said, wiping his brow with a white towel as he stood on the heated floor. Busy immigrants had been asking for such a one-stop relaxation spot here, he said, adding, "When they are working hard, they are missing something: family gatherings."
Lee said he hopes the venture will encourage healthfulness and serve as a handy resting spot for airline workers on layovers, who he said are welcome to spend the night on thin mats in the sleeping rooms.
The complex took three years to build, with the help of more than 60 builders, engineers and computer technicians who flew in from Korea to help. Its centerpiece is a vast main hall with smooth stone floors heated by water pipes that run underneath, another Korean custom. At one end is a juice bar serving $5 shaved ice with red beans. At the other are several rooms heated to desertlike temperatures and one 54-degree "ice room," their walls covered in stones imported from South Korea and the Himalayas.

reference:
By Karin BrulliardWashington Post Staff Writer Monday, March 3, 2008; Page B01