The quest for root beer has hit a snag. Eunsuk looked up the Korean name for wintergreen, and on Saturday we went looking for it in the herbal medicine district. The conversation at the herb store went something like this:

¡°We're looking for wintergreen¡±
¡°That's an odd herb. What condition are you trying to treat?¡±
¡°Homesickness¡±

I was quite surprised, and happy, when the storekeeper reached up on a high shelf and handed us a package of what he claimed was wintergreen. We paid around $4 for it and went home. Eunsuk, being Eunsuk, was suspicious about this poorly labeled herb and looked up its medicinal name on internet. It turns out that it wasn't wintergreen, but instead greater celandine- one of the few herbs in existence which can't be included in root beer.

Still, Eunsuk believes it was a mistake. Wintergreen isn't commonly used in herbal medicine and if the storekeeper had been trying to cheat us he would have sold us something more expensive. I'm not so sure of that. I see this as just one more reason to distrust herbalists. Anyhow, it doesn't look like I'll be able to get wintergreen, so it's back to using peppermint as a substitute for now.

Ataraxia Theatre is an anthology of different stories by Joseph Hewitt. It updates every Monday and Thursday.