Medicinal Herb Festival

Last weekend, I had the chance to check out Seoul's annual Medicinal Herb Festival in Jegi-dong. It was a memorable experience.

The area is home to hundreds of herb shops, making it one of the more fragrant neighborhoods in town. I saw more ginseng in various forms than I've ever encountered and watched as vendors sliced and diced herbs for retail purposes. Oh, and it wouldn't be a Korean festival without the sound of samulnori drums.

However, the most memorable part was visiting Yangnyeongsi -Seoul's Herb Medicine Museum. My friend and I were treated to a 2-hour tour of the museum with our own personal guide, an older Korean woman with the knowledge base of a college course textbook. Her English was astounding, and we learned so much.

Key takeaways:

• until fairly recently (50 years ago), scraping one's unwashed scalp with acupuncture needles was a method for disinfecting them.
• many different animals, including deer, frogs, and bears, were used to make traditional medicines; this practice is now illegal, though still occurring in parts of Asia.
  
• since my body temp runs hot, I need to avoid white ginseng and stick to red or black.
• based on self-reported answers to a quiz, I was diagnosed Soyangin (healthy stomach, weak kidneys; aggressive and fun) and Taeyangin (strong lungs, weak liver; smart, initiative, masculine, impatient, and stubborn).

on cup:  "Hope only happens to the person who is hoping."