Sunday, December 21, 2008
In the land of Kimchi
I’ve been in a hype since I arrived here in Korea last Sunday. Hence, I couldn’t wait to share the simple yet superb experiences and feelings I’ve had since then.
We are staying here with a Korean family. With my broken Korean words coupled with really nice body languages, Loida and I were able to communicate with the host family’s mom. She in turn, would always grab her Korean-english dictionary and show us the things she wanted to say.. Now you could imagine the plight we are going through when it comes to using English in the land of Kimchi.
But these things I don’t really mind coz beyond the awkwardness in communication, I am still on cloud 9. Here, I could eat as much Kimchi as I want to, I could drink as many cups of Nuk Tza (Korean green tea) as I wish. My body shivers everytime I go out of the building but it’s just alright. The array of yellow, red and brown Gingko and mulberry trees along the strees of Seoul is a sight to behold I want to keep in my mind for as long as I can. The city lights I saw as we rode the boat along Han river was one of the highlights of my short visit. The busy streets of Nagdaemun market, the sweet aroma of Mandu (siopao), the hot noodles, the street food we had in Gwangnaru subway station, those are just a few of the things I would miss after I leave the land of Kimchi.
Talking about noodles, I thought it’s kind of strange coz it seems to me Korean food are on both extremes. They like to eat food while it is literally cooking in front of them. It’s a mixture of a flammable hotness and spiciness that my tummy still ached 2 days after we’ve eaten that very spicy food. Just the other day, our friends ordered for us Neng Myon. It is a kind of cold noodles eaten with literally blocks of ice on it. It was a strange food but it tasted really good.
We’ve also met our friends from way back 2003 here. It’s interesting to learn how their lives have been. Some have already gotten married, some are still singles, some have gone abroad, some we couldn’t get in touch with anymore. I will still meet some of my Korean friends this week. I’m excited to share stories and gossips with them about our lives. Wahhhh… I am indeed blessed.
I still have a week to savor the flavors of korean food and discover the best kept secret of Asia, as one of Korea’s battle cry says. On the second day of my stay here, I’ve haphazardly written my goals in coming here. I hope I could accomplish them all so I could go back to the middle east with a refreshed mind and body.
Surprising Treat from Heaven
It was a surprising treat for the day, a natural high, a miracle in the making that soothed my soul and warmed my heart – the 30-minute downpour on Sheikh Zayed road early this morning.
We left my house worrying about how to water Pablo’s windshield wiper’s water tank as it is already drained. Then, it started drizzling so I thought what a nice coincidence. After about 7 minutes on the road, it began raining like it’s does during the rainy days in the SouthEast without any warning. Then all vehicles started turning on their headlights and hazard signals. The road was hazy and white, windshield wiper working as hard as never before while we shrieked with delight as our vehicle get splattered with water by the passing cars.
I thought I could have brought my umbrella… the yellow one I’ve bought from Shanghai last June and has been keeping in my closet since then. I was a bit worried that the parking lot might have been full as of this time since there would be no guard to traffic the incoming vehicles to the parking area, plus the fact that we are already about 10 minutes late for work.
However, the unlikely thing happened. Passed the Mall of the Emirates, the rain was gone as quickly as it had come. The on-coming vehicles on the other side of the road didn’t show traces of being drenched nor being drizzled. There were even rays of sunlight escaping from an island of cloud as we emerge from the tunnel at the exit going to Al Barsha South. The parking lot in Emaar Business Park is half full and the guards are as usual, in their post, patiently inspecting all the entering vehicles. It looked as if someone had taken a great vat of water and poured it over Sheikh Zayed road between the 1st and 4th interchange at 8:30 this morning.
I love waking up in a beautiful sunny day just as I love it when the weather starts cooling down and gentle chilly breeze fills the air in the evenings. Yet, nothing can be compared to the experience of a rain after endless days under the desert sun. It is one moment that matters and that I’ve been longing for quite a long time. Each moment captured as the mizzle falls gingerly on my outstretched hands, the heavy beating of the raindrops as they rush falling on the car and finally to the ground, is a sight that made me feel both thrilled and fretful at the same time. Thrilled - for the feeling of freshness, of being washed from head to toe, hence, draining away all those that have marred the spirit and hardened the core. Fretful - that the streets might get flooded, the car would stop running and we would be stuck somewhere.
Still, I considered it a happening especially done for me by the One above despite the odds. There is this song with the lyrics, “sometimes He comes in the rain’ by Steven Curtis Chapman. So I thought, when everything in me seems to have crushed, when I feel like crying hard but the tears are just not there, when I want something so badly I would give up everything but still cannot have my way on it – then there would be no better time and no better way of assuring me that my God knows what I’m going through than by literally sending rain over to me. And He did… today.
As I sat in my office desk working on this, I could still see the picture of the rainy day on Sheikh Zayed road in my mind, and the joy I found on the rain falling on blue days. I believe all experiences come with lessons/messages never to be taken for granted, otherwise, a great deal of learning will be missed. As for me, I hope I could figure and sort out things in my life that seem to need some rearrangements.
Also, I hope there could be more morning downpours on Sheikh Zayed road to come.
We left my house worrying about how to water Pablo’s windshield wiper’s water tank as it is already drained. Then, it started drizzling so I thought what a nice coincidence. After about 7 minutes on the road, it began raining like it’s does during the rainy days in the SouthEast without any warning. Then all vehicles started turning on their headlights and hazard signals. The road was hazy and white, windshield wiper working as hard as never before while we shrieked with delight as our vehicle get splattered with water by the passing cars.
I thought I could have brought my umbrella… the yellow one I’ve bought from Shanghai last June and has been keeping in my closet since then. I was a bit worried that the parking lot might have been full as of this time since there would be no guard to traffic the incoming vehicles to the parking area, plus the fact that we are already about 10 minutes late for work.
However, the unlikely thing happened. Passed the Mall of the Emirates, the rain was gone as quickly as it had come. The on-coming vehicles on the other side of the road didn’t show traces of being drenched nor being drizzled. There were even rays of sunlight escaping from an island of cloud as we emerge from the tunnel at the exit going to Al Barsha South. The parking lot in Emaar Business Park is half full and the guards are as usual, in their post, patiently inspecting all the entering vehicles. It looked as if someone had taken a great vat of water and poured it over Sheikh Zayed road between the 1st and 4th interchange at 8:30 this morning.
I love waking up in a beautiful sunny day just as I love it when the weather starts cooling down and gentle chilly breeze fills the air in the evenings. Yet, nothing can be compared to the experience of a rain after endless days under the desert sun. It is one moment that matters and that I’ve been longing for quite a long time. Each moment captured as the mizzle falls gingerly on my outstretched hands, the heavy beating of the raindrops as they rush falling on the car and finally to the ground, is a sight that made me feel both thrilled and fretful at the same time. Thrilled - for the feeling of freshness, of being washed from head to toe, hence, draining away all those that have marred the spirit and hardened the core. Fretful - that the streets might get flooded, the car would stop running and we would be stuck somewhere.
Still, I considered it a happening especially done for me by the One above despite the odds. There is this song with the lyrics, “sometimes He comes in the rain’ by Steven Curtis Chapman. So I thought, when everything in me seems to have crushed, when I feel like crying hard but the tears are just not there, when I want something so badly I would give up everything but still cannot have my way on it – then there would be no better time and no better way of assuring me that my God knows what I’m going through than by literally sending rain over to me. And He did… today.
As I sat in my office desk working on this, I could still see the picture of the rainy day on Sheikh Zayed road in my mind, and the joy I found on the rain falling on blue days. I believe all experiences come with lessons/messages never to be taken for granted, otherwise, a great deal of learning will be missed. As for me, I hope I could figure and sort out things in my life that seem to need some rearrangements.
Also, I hope there could be more morning downpours on Sheikh Zayed road to come.
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