Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pangaea]

There is some kind of plant or herb here that smells just like a certain illegal substance and I'm curious as to what it is. I've smelled it several times in public, so I know its not that. Someone told me what it was once but I have forgotten. I smelled it again today when I was having dinner in a restaurant and it made me wonder again what it was. Is it something people cook or burn like incense? It's not a smell I consider pleasant, so just wondering what it's application would be in a restaurant.

[lifeinkorea]

cilantro?

[DorkothyParker]

I remember that from when I was in Bucheon. I don't recall what I heard it was they were burning. I haven't noticed in in Jeju, though. Peculiar thing that is.

[jinks]

I think it is mugwort
Someone (Korean) was burning it in my building and freaked out all the foreigners who all thought either a: someone was taking illegal drugs or b: (even worse!) someone was holding out
It does smell really similar, actually it was so heavy it gave me a headache.
ETA: I think people burn it like medicinal incense to clean the air

[lille]

There's a heady, leafy smell that comes from holistic doctors' traditional medicine places, but I wouldn't say it smells anything like pot.

..Like I'd remember, having been in Korea so long.

[Hokie21]

Dirty shirt laundry

[decolyon]

I don't know the name of it, but they (the old timers) burn it when they have a cold or trouble breathing and breath it in. They cook it or boil it and them wrap it around their joints and muscles to ease soreness and pain. Yes, the smell is quite distinctive.

Just a bit off topic though, don't let Koreans here fool you. Before the war, Mary Jane was all over the place here. The farmers used to grow it for personal use and some way out in the country side are still allowed too. The cool mountain air used to produce some pretty potent smoke that would rival that of Canada's best or even the finest Thai stick. It was with MacArthur's moral brigades that attempted to "tame" the heathen East Asian man that it became frowned upon. After the war and after things settled, missionaries from every Christian belief came funneling over and so it really went out of fashion. It's been so out of the culture for the last 50 or 60 years, many young Koreans think it never was here and they have always been "pure" and unharmed by it. Bologna. Mary was the least of their problems a hundred or two hundred years ago. The Chinese opium trade used to shoot right through Korea and Japan on it's way to California. There were smoke dens in every major town in the Orient. Alcohol was for the whites and the ladies that serviced them. The locals stuck with plants, as pure as the Earth it came from.

So now, while it is virtually non-existent here and I don't recommend anyone buying/selling/or using while in Korea or if you're getting ready to come to Korea. Just know the truth and the history behind it. For Pete's sake there's a reason why it's called "w**d" it is a weed. It will grow and has grown everywhere and most cultures have used it at some point in their history.

[RMNC]

Masculinity

[nukeday]

Mugwort

[northway]

Yeah, they have these trees right outside of Sanbon Station and it always smells like herb.

[freddy teacher]

damn, i thought i was going crazy and i was the only one that smelled it...

[hondaicivic]

[whitestboyalive]

Definitely smelled that 'herb' smell before walking down a particular street in Daegu.

[magni]

Sage/Sage incense smells a lot like that very special herb.

[nw25th]

It's some sort of chinese herb...and yes, it reaks like reefer...I live in a crappy neighboorhood with tons of old people, I smell it every time I got out...