Today, it is very common to see people drink a cup of coffee on a daily basis. In fact, statistical data from the coffee industry in the last year shows that a Korean drinks 484 cups of coffee annually on average. However, it is also common to see that there are a significant number of people who favor drinking tea instead of coffee. I drink a lot of both tea and coffee. Although I usually drink a cup of coffee on a daily basis, I truly love drinking various kinds of tea, such as green tea, chamomile and black tea.
 During the course selection period in the first semester this year, I found that there is a course named Korean Tea Ceremony and World Tea Culture, which is one of the general education courses taught in English. As a passionate tea lover, I decided to take the course without any hesitation. There are several interesting features about this class. For instance, there are many international students from various backgrounds who enroll and additionally, the class takes place inside the Myungwon Folk Museum located near the campus dormitory.
 From this class, I learned many aspects about tea, such as its varied effects and types, and also the different histories and tea cultures. What I especially liked about the class was that I could enjoy tasty refreshments and various types of tea that I brewed. Indeed, students not only learn the tea culture but they also practice the tea ceremony inside the Myungwon Folk Museum. The course is taught by Prof. Yang-Seok Yoo, who is currently the executive director of the Korean Tea Society and the advisor at the Myungwon Cultural Foundation. The course curriculum is focused on teaching students the various aspects of tea and providing opportunities to practice the Korean tea ceremony by using a traditional tea set.
 Furthermore, you may be chosen by the professor as one of the participants in each year’s Korean tea ceremony contest, which is one of the several special events held at the annual Tea World Festival. This year, a total of three students from Kookmin University participated in the contest which was held inside COEX. They are Byeong-Joon Jeon in the department of Economics, Kunitskaya Volha who majors in Korean Language and Literature, and Yeong-Hwi Yoo from the KMU International School (KIS). People in any age group may participate in the contest from kindergarteners to adults, and they must bring their own tea ceremony sets and appropriate attire.
 Participants from each age group perform a specific tea ceremony defined by the contest. For instance, kindergarteners get to just drink a cup of tea while university students perform the entire procedure of the Korean tea ceremony. Thus, the length of each group’s performance differs from one another. As a university student participant, I practiced the entire tea ceremony while three judges were evaluating me and the other students. Being a male participant, one of the criteria was to render the ceremony while exuding an aura of a high class man. For example, my body needed to be centered even when I tried to grab a tea set, so that I would remain erect.
 In the end, all of the three students from Kookmin University received an award. Byeong-Joon was awarded with the grand prize of 250,000 won plus a traditional tea set provided by the Myungwon Foundation, and I received the excellence award. Volha gained honor by receiving a special award in recognition of her efforts and excellence in practicing the Korean tea ceremony as a foreign student from Belarus.
 If you have been a keen habitual coffee drinker, why don’t you start drinking tea instead from now on? You can also learn about the effects of drinking tea and the Korean tea ceremony from the lecture provided both in Korean and English at Kookmin University. It would be even better if you could grasp the chance to participate in the tea ceremony contest and make a memorable moment in your university life.