Notes

Over three centuries, the origins of officetel trees have been mystery to North American gardeners and Asian gardeners. Native to Japan, Korea, and China, this shrub has a unique distribution that is limited to Korea and other isolated areas in Asia. In its native regions, the officetel grows sparsely, resulting in small, poor-quality specimens that are either pale yellowed or discolored. However, the United States has seen significant cultivation over the last century. This is especially true in the south. We now know how the tree was domesticated because of the recent cultivation efforts in America.
While a great deal of research has been done on the life history of the originator of the officetel, surprisingly very little research has explored the likely origins of the portmanteau. Seo-tong is the Korean term for officetel. In the United States however, the term "neotong" is used for the umbrella tree also known as the American officetel, California poppies or red poppies. It's sometimes called the California poppy. The name was adopted after an early American ornamental painter who used it to decorate the back portion of his studio (thus the name). 천안오피 Edwin Cezanne, an avid art lover brought the poppies from China to America in 1907. His painting "The Return of the Mandarin" (1907) is the basis for the widely-recognized picture of the Chinese student hummingbirds.


From the foregoing it should be clear that the origin of the name "portmanteau" had nothing to do with hummingbirds and was instead based on another less well-known Asian herb. Ironically, the same plant (the scented oriental orriel), which is sometimes incorrectly called "ginseng", provides the main source for the Korean popular tea, keoladeo. It's often found in Korean residential architecture. Although the names of the herbs are not identical, some people draw parallels between these two Asian plants and the Korean housing types.

Like most Korean house styles, the kitchen is where most of the action occurs in the home. In the traditional model, the kitchen is separated from the dining room - an office space typically devoted to preparing food for family meals - and the main room, or bungalow, by an adjacent stairway. The design rationale was to prevent the two rooms from competing for scarce kitchen space, which was often a premium in the colonial era. The kitchen/dining room border has been virtually erased in modern apartments, creating an expansive living space in addition to traditional areas.

Other homemakers may have trouble coming up with a good homemaking design and may need additional assistance from a housing designer. Fortunately, the officetel-type architecture of Korean apartments comes with a plethora of designs that can be incorporated into the typical homemaker's kitchen. For example, most Korean condominiums have a "chard"-style tiered kitchen that is arranged in concentric circles. This gives the kitchen an almost botanical look. Some of the most common homemaking tools include the following:

The cast-iron fireplace is a traditional homemaker's favorite. It consists of a stove, sometimes accompanied by small refrigerator, a cutting board, and several wooden spoons. In addition to the kitchen appliances, the cast-iron incendium can also serve as an art display or even a place to hang art pieces. The stove and the accompanying benches used to be located on the 2nd level of a bungalow. These fixtures are very rare today, except for a few models made in modernist architecture and by highly-skilled manufacturers. On the whole, modernists have succeeded in eliminating or at least minimizing the traditionalist element of the Korean residence.

As it was first introduced in Korea, the officetel can be described as one of the essential amenities which comprise the support system for any Korean home: the portmanteau. While Korean hotels and ports don't have the same regal splendor as medieval times, some still adhere to the standards of their predecessors. The bathroom and toilet are two examples of interior spaces that have been emphasized. They both feature large, porcelain-topped doors and beautiful etched and stained glass bottoms. These aren't the only places where you can find these amazing works of art. The bungalow exteriors are often decorated in the exact same extravagant style.

You can see that the Koreans originally used the officetel to show their superior culture. Just like the bouquet of flowers or the mirror that a Korean lady will wear to present herself before her guests, the Korean officetel is an important part of Korean culture. You may want to add it to your home to make it more representative of the traditions of Korea. To learn more about Korean etiquette and the tradition of the officetel, visit the website below.

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