This past Saturday (September 2/06) we travelled by bus to the nearby city of Geumsan (pronounced Kumsan - it's about the same size as Peterborough and is 50 minutes away from Taejon). There we went to a huge market that featured ginseng in every manifestation possible: candy, chocolate, tea, bottled drinks, gum, deep fried and served up at concession stands with a honey dip and much more. We had no idea ginseng could be processed into so many products! This town is where 80 per cent of Korea's ginseng is harvested and marketed, so the entire downtown area had a market feel, with lots of outdoor stalls and umbrellas and crowded alleys where vendors sold all kinds of things (including live chickens, one of which met its end while we happened to be walking by - we think Cora is still recovering from that one!).
The city is gearing up for a big international ginseng expo, and in preparation for that there were some demonstrations going on, and we were interviewed by two Korean television crews, which was hysterical. The first featured two young women in matching outfits who were exceptionally energetic and the second crew bought us rounds of deep-fried ginseng and took all kinds of footage while we talked about exploring the market. It was all very entertaining and we felt like celebrities.
We travelled to Geumsan with another family (from Alaska - the Lindemans), a couple by the names of Steve and Sue from Toronto (Trent grads, too!!), and a young teacher from Minnesota named Nikole. It was a great day!
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