Jeongpyeong Ginseng Festival

Jeongpyeong is about 50 minutes from my house in Cheongju and 10 minutes from my school in Doan. I pass through it everyday, but rarely actually stop to explore it, or hang out there. This little shindig gave me a good excuse to see what this JP is all about! 

인삼 (Insam) Festival.

So this festival - Yes, it's all about ginseng. It's like our sweet corn or watermelon festivals back home. Wait, yes, it was almost exactly like those small town festivals we have in the states. A few little rides that look like they are going to fall apart, some games that are impossible to win, lots and lots and lots of fried food and of course booze. I guess humans everywhere have pretty similar ideas about what a festival entails.


So, what even is ginseng? (here's a link for that, or you can trust me)

Well.. it's a root. And it's medicinal. Or at least good for you. It's used for a lot of health things. It's fried/cooked and eaten whole, it's in some drinks, used to make tea, and in beauty products. Koreans just rave about it and apparently as quoted by my teachers at school it's 'Good for men in the night time'. Just fyi for all you men out there. Ok, enough of that - moving on...

Basically it's healthy and good for you and blah blah. Of course I had to try it. So, I tried it all battered up and deep fried, to make sure I wasn't getting toooo many health benefits from it.

Result: I loved it. Really.. it was so good. Kind of like a sweet potato with a bit of an added medicinal tangy, bitter taste. I had had ginseng once before - a ginseng drink at school that one of the teachers gave me - and that tasted like liquidy BBQ sauce/medicine. I didn't like it.

So I like the actual root, not the sugary drink. I wonder if I would like the tea? I'm not a huge tea fan of tea, but who knows. I feel like that would be the healthiest way to consume the ginseng, so that I could actually get the benefits of it.

I learned ginseng grows in the ground for several years (up to 6 years I guess). And the longer it grows the bigger it gets and the more expensive it gets. It's so interesting. It grows under these shaded canopy, cover things that I see dotting the country side.

So this festival was full of traditional activities. We watched some men with large hammers beat some ddok (rice cake) over and over until the adjumma (in the red) said to stop. 

Then she went over, bent down and picked up the massive slab of rice and threw it down on the table where they put a bunch of powdered substance on it. Then they cut it up into smaller pieces and sold it to the masses of Korea people waiting in line to buy it.

We walked around the booths, talked to a few different people selling their ginseng. We got to one station and one of the ladies knew quite a bit of English so we stopped and chatted for a while. 

As we talked, a man walked up with a bag. You just never know what to expect. Ever. That's what I've learned. It's an 'ok, get read for this.. they are going to want me to eat this and they won't leave me alone until I do, so I should just do itttttt'..... it was one of those moments. As I looked into the bag, I realized what it was.


Grasshoppers.

They were red, I guess from the spice (because everything has to have spice). I just looked at them and thought, there is no way. But of course, he insisted. And pressured. And grabbed one and placed it in my hand. There was no turning back now. It was in my hand. I had to. They promised they were delicious. Right. A bug, delicious? Come on Korea. I know all about your smelly bugs you try to sell me on the streets. I refuse to try those, they smell to horrible! 

I was not excited about eating a grasshopper, but of course I did........

Result: I actually liked it. It was dried, so it was crunchy and just tasted like the spice/flavoring they put on it. It was kind of like a chip with eyes. I even grabbed another, and this time no hesitation, plopped that sucker in my mouth. Ok, fine Korea - you win this round with force feeding me randomness that is actually quite good!

And then there was this.
Sometimes in Korea I find things like this and I just don't understand why and you know what it's things like this that I probably never will......

So I just accept it and appreciate it -- Psy doing Gangnam Style with the Madagascar crew (Marty, Melman, Alex and Gloria)!! Yeah, ok... that's actually pretty AWESOME!