Korean Job Discussion Forums

[captain kirk]

I've taken ginseng, on and off, since I was at Uni. As a general tonic. It's not mainstream to use ginseng back in Canada. My Grandmother thought it was excessive and said, 'you don't need it'. She grew up in the depression/dirty thirties so any sort of extra expenditure to her was seen as a waste. Money was tight back then.
Here there are ginseng drinks of various kinds. One, for 2,000 won, has a root floating inside. I brought a couple of those, which hit hard, to work one day. The female k-teacher quaffed hers, and shook the root out and ate it. Ginseng tastes, as you probably know, like sweet dirt.
I picked up some at Walmart, tablets, something like 600 tablets for 60,000 won. And chew half one immediately before the six hour block, then another half half way through the block. The k-teachers have noticed this and said nothing, not knowing what it was I shook out of a pill bottle and chewed. One day I was talking to the head K-teacher and she asked, 'what is that?'. I said it was ginseng. She said let me see. I gave her a tablet and she chewed it right up. There was a lot of laughter about, 'oh, that's what it was'. I guess they figured I was taking something not ginseng, or wondering about it anyway.
We were talking about ginseng in a class of 12 year olds, I mentioned I had some in my bag. Chopped a tablet into six pieces and eager hands reached out for their piece. They ALL chewed up the sweet dirt tasting tablet. They said it was delicious.
I asked if they took ginseng, and they pretty much all do. Some in capsules or tablets, others drink tea.
Since Korea grows ginseng this is certainly something, a taste aquired and its use, not done back home.
How about you, do you take ginseng. The stuff I used to take back home was Korean ginseng, by the way.

[peppermint]

Just checked the label on the bottle of vitamins in my cupboard and along with the usuals, there's Korean ginseng, ginko biloba(the trees with odd shaped leaves you see growing everywhere are ginko trees- an extract is supposedly good for memory) and green tea. Damn! My mom sent over the ajuma special! ( nothing about stamina on the packaging though. . )

[the eye]

according to traditional chinese medicine, ginseng is not good for certain types of people.
in traditional terms, people who are "hot running" should not take it. apparently your pulse rate and pattern determines whether you are a hot runner or a cold runner.

in western terms, i understand that people with hypertension, or high blood pressure should not take ginseng, as it compounds the problem.
ginseng also speeds up the metabolism, making it unsuitable for ectomorphic (high metabolism) people.

i used to take it every morning. initially, i felt much more energetic and even my mood was affected positively.
however, after a while, it seemed to really affect my nerves. it made me more impatient and nervous.

[jazzplayer]

Back in the 70s, Seoul was filled with teahouses and herbal shops that sold ginseng. I remember seeing jars filled with rather large ginseng roots, some selling for over $100 US--this was back when the won was 400 to the dollar. Apparently some people valued roots that had a more human shape over ones that didn't--and those commanded a much higher price.

I take ginseng as a supplement daily, for energy. I also like the Korean tea--it comes in these little packets w/ granules of ginseng and honey. I have read that people w/ hypertension should avoid it.

In the Eastern US, in Appalachia, ginseng used to grow wild, and the old-time mountain folk farmed it--they called it "sang." Now there are ginseng coops in the Blue Ridge.

yeah, Koreans love their ginseng.

[the eye]

korean red ginseng is actually regarded as the best in the world. and that's by international recommendation.

canada white ginseng is apparently second best. woohoo!

[I_Am_Wrong]

The vice-principal of my school gave me a jar of "Korean Red Ginseng Extract Gold" when I was massively sick a while ago. It's like a thick ginseng syrup and apparently it's massively expensive. All Korean teachers saw it at my desk and kept saying, "whoa...you must be rich"