Looking back, I could have guessed.

Travel destinations are rarely as described in the brochures.

The South Korean Tourism Authority had lured me with a dreamy ad: a tea plantation on Jeju Island;

the first rays of sunshine of the day are reflected in the dewdrops lying on deep green leaves.

South Korea recommended itself as the “Land of the Morning Calm”.

Anna Schiller

volunteer.

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I had just graduated.

I came out of college with a real addiction to coffee.

While others took water to class, I brought a tumbler of black coffee with me.

At some point, the barista in my favorite café not only knew my drinking habits, but also my friends.

When I first flew to South Korea for a break, I made a firm commitment to downshift — and switch to green tea.

I had read somewhere that tea was the healthier source of caffeine.

To this day, I haven't checked to see if that's true.

I wanted to complete my personal substitution program in South Korea.

In my mind's eye I saw myself sitting in a traditional tea house, drinking from fine china cups.

It would be my new morning ritual in the country where the days are said to start so quietly.

How coffee found its way to Korea

What I found instead in Seoul: Cafés, one every 100 meters in many streets.

Starbucks and The Coffee Bean compete with local chains - with melodious names like Twosome Place, Paris Baguette, Ediya Coffee, Angelinus or Paik's Coffee.

It is not uncommon for there to be a café on every corner at intersections with subway stations.

As it turned out, I was almost 100 years too late for my tea ritual.

In the 1920s, the first teahouses in Korea began to serve coffee on a large scale.

Political turbulence and a German made sure that the coffee found its way to the palaces of Korea beforehand.

Antoinette Sontag, born in Alsace in 1838, looked after the household and children of a Russian diplomat in Seoul.

After the Queen was assassinated by Japanese troops in 1896, her husband, King Gojong, fled to the Russian Embassy.

From there he ruled the country for about a year.

Sontag cooked for him – and served coffee and pastries for breakfast.

The caffeine drink must have made a deep impression on him: after his return to the palace, King Gojong made Sontag his mistress of ceremonies and had a reception building built on the grounds, where coffee was served to guests of the court.

Cold caffeine bomb

As a regular tourist, I had to get my drinks myself.

I drank my last coffee on the plane.

24 hours later, tired and with a headache, I was wandering through unfamiliar streets.

I told myself that was how my body reacted to the lack of caffeine.

So I ended my withdrawal.

But if I were going to drink coffee, then I wanted to drink real Korean coffee.

After all, I wanted to experience something “authentic” far away.