Hi friends,
I was telling a friend about something that I find baffling here in Korea, and she suggested I write about it and things like this, when I don't have any special travels or events to write about. So, I will share with you something I find very troubling here. It began when I first got here, but I thought 'Hey, it's just Korea' but then, a few weeks ago, I rediscovered the matter, and it had become more puzzling in my mind.
During my first month here I was excited to find there was a Starbucks relatively nearby. I have two drinks I order there. When I'm hot, I drink a chai frappuccino and when I'm cold, I drink a peppermint hot chocolate. It was still cold when I first came to Korea, so I was excited to get my favourite peppermint hot chocolate. I was disappointed to hear them tell me in broken English that they did not have it. I even asked if they had peppermint syrup, but alas, they did not have any. As disappointed as I was, I just accepted it was not a thing here in Korea.
The summer was very hot and I had forgotten my troubles over the occasional chai frappuccino. However, the cold weather returned and I naively tried again, thinking with Christmas coming maybe they would have it. They did not. I asked again about the syrup, and again I was denied and crestfallen. Then, I started to think. I realized something was awry. I don't know why I hadn't realized it earlier, but once I realized it, no sense was to be made.
I'd had peppermint hot chocolate in Korea. In fact, I'd had a peppermint hot chocolate in every coffee shop (and there are many here) that I'd been in. So, peppermint hot chocolate is a huge thing in Korea. So, why in the world does the coffee shop, with the best peppermint hot chocolate I've had, not have it on its' menu. How can one explain that? There is no logic here. So now, not only do I not have my peppermint hot chocolate, and am forlorn, but now, I'm also very confused. Where was Starbucks marketing on this one? If every coffee shop (possibly excluding independently run ones) in the country has it on it's menu, why would you not have it on yours, when you have it on yours in other countries?
I shall leave you with this to ponder, as I do every time I walk by a coffee shop, which is often. There are a lot here. No lie. They love their coffee here. I've never seen so many coffee shops.
