Laughs at Sang Soo Herb Land...

On Saturday afternoon Brian and I escaped from Daejeon to visit Sang Soo Herb Land, located about 30 minutes north of Daejeon. The girls opted to hang out at home for the afternoon, reading books and recuperating from their return to classes. There were lovely gardens to wander through and there were also some interesting features at this park. One was a huge rock called "Penis Dinosaur Rock" (no joke); apparently if you touch this rock while pregnant you will give birth to a boy. Hmmm... we avoided touching the rock at all. There is also a wonderful restaurant on-site that serves a variation of traditional Korean bibimbap (a rice dish loaded with fresh veggies). This version comes infused with herbs and topped with edible flowers and is very delicious. While we were eating lunch we met the owner of Herb Land, Mr. Sang Soo Lee. With gestures and a bit of English he showed us how to properly mix our rice and soak the edible flowers in water kimchee. He also inducted us into a Korean love ritual where he placed three red flower petals onto my face (cheeks and forehead) so that I resembled the famous Korean ajuma mask used in traditional dances. He prepared a spoonful of flower rice and had Brian and I stand up by our table while he made some sort of announcement to the entire restaurant. Everyone clapped and cheered while Brian fed me the rice; Mr. Lee then insisted we kiss to seal the deal (while everyone watched, of course). This was the funniest thing that has happened to us in a long time and we laughed and laughed. Korea is a wonderful and quirky country and today we were reminded of how much fun it is to live here.