It's easy to fall into a pattern of complacency. Go to work, walk the dog, take out the trash etc. But I find that when I mix things up - step out of the mundanities of everyday life and follow my curiosities - that's when my surroundings really come to life.
Today's random neighborhood adventure led me and my friend Tom to a part of our beloved, adopted Korean city of Bucheon, that we had only heard about as somewhat of a tall-tale. We heard there was a foreigner neighborhood within our own town full of Thais, Filipinos, Indians, and other people from Southeast Asia. With this, there were promises of great food, so we went searching.
Now Bucheon is a rather large suburban area of the greater Seoul Metro Area but it has its own municipality, so its a proper city in its own right. Quite simply, Bucheon is fantastic place to live with everything a young adventurous guy could want: restaurants, shopping, hills to hike, parks, well-paved roads and public transportation. Anytime I would spend the day in the hustle and bustle of Seoul, coming home to Bucheon at the end of the day always felt good. Anyhow, when Tom and I learned of the prospect for Thai food in our town, we went on a long walk in search of it. Many steps and a few wrong turns later, we arrived at what could only be described as a hidden foreign town. I mean, this market-filled area was definitely not on any main roads and it was tucked way back in the innards of an otherwise unassuming neighborhood.
Thai food in Bucheon at last. And Indian. Oh, and did I mention Vietnamese too? This place kind of had it all, and we loved it. As it would turn out, this neighborhood would become a go-to for me for years to come when I needed to buy cilantro or other rare spices, otherwise foreign to Koreans in general. I would hop on my 1997 Yamaha XJR400 and zip down to our little secret foreign neighborhood. The sound from my tailpipe would ricochet off the walls of the buildings lining the alley, and the vendors with whom I had grown friendly with, could hear me coming from a mile away. It was great to be greeted with predictive smiles as I dismounted the bike in search of curry powder or coriander.
For anyone who may have read this, you might have noticed the apparently crazy switch in tenses from the present to the perfect past. That's because the first two paragraphs were written back in 2013 and the blog post was never finished. I am only now, in August of 2016, from my home desk in Riyadh, finishing this post, thus I am reminiscing for the latter part of the post in the past tense. My days in Korea were some of the very best I've ever had, and writing about it like this makes me think I should dedicate at least a few more memories to be written as blog posts in the future. Thanks for taking a few moments to picture with me what Korean life was like.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Summer 2016 Recap
The calendar was jam-packed this summer with lofty goals and transcontinental movement.
I kicked off the vacation months in late May with a quick 4 day trip to Malaysia to sell 2 motorcycles that had been sitting there, unused, for a year. Luckily, the bikes were still in excellent riding shape (after a bit of tlc) and incredibly, I was able to sell them both in the span of the 4 day trip. In addition to the crazy timetable I had sillily set for myself to complete the task, I was also battling a wicked illness that, little did I know at the time, would get much, much worse in the weeks to follow.
With pockets bulging with ringgit, I boarded a flight in Kuala Lumpur bound for Kuwait, where I would spend a few days with family in preparation for a long road trip to Jordan. Once my brother and I arrived safely in Amman, we immediately began our Arabic classes that would last for 5 weeks. As previously mentioned, I was battling some crazy illness that by this point had severely worsened and was creating some serious concern as to whether I would complete my 5 week course or not. Thankfully, I found some excellent physicians who helped me get back to full strength within a few weeks and the latter part of our Jordan trip was really stellar.
From Jordan we hopped a taxi to the Israeli border, then bused in to the country. 3 hours and some mild 'interrogation' later, we were in the Holy City of Jerusalem. We spent a week in Israel, covering most of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and even a short trip up the coast to the historical coastal town of Akko, where we chucked ourselves off a seawall into the Mediterranean - highlight of our trip.
From Israel we headed back to Jordan to collect our things and pick up the car so we could head for Riyadh, KSA. After yet another 15 hour journey, we were back at my pad in Riyadh for a few more days of rest, only to hit the road again for Kuwait to catch our flights to Turkey, where we would spend the next 3 weeks with more studies.
Turkey is a beautiful country full of scrumptious foods and colorful people, not to mention the stunning mosques all over the cities and countryside. The military coup attempt actually happened about 2 hours after we arrived in Samsun from Istanbul. Had we booked a slightly later flight from Istanbul, we would have been stuck in the Ataturk airport for a minimum of 24 hours, likely more. We said our prayers of thanks for having bypassed that whole racquet.
We studied Islam, Ihsan, and Iman, devotional practice, devotional perfection, and faith, at what is aptly called the 'Rihla', which means Journey in Arabic. Along the way we were blessed to meet revered scholars, energetic volunteers, and interesting classmates and colleagues. The experience of the Rihla was truly one of a kind and deserves its own analysis and reflection, perhaps in a future post.
Finally, we left Turkey for Kuwait and spent the last few weeks of summer vacation enjoying the desert heat between Riyadh and Kuwait city. With the new school year vastly approaching, its nice to look back at this summer's accomplishments, challenges, struggles, and lessons with a renewed sense of purpose and gratitude for all of the incredible opportunities both past and present. Life in the Gulf region can be, at times, somewhat challenging for expatriates, but it's always nice to come back to a place that is increasingly beginning to feel more like home.
I kicked off the vacation months in late May with a quick 4 day trip to Malaysia to sell 2 motorcycles that had been sitting there, unused, for a year. Luckily, the bikes were still in excellent riding shape (after a bit of tlc) and incredibly, I was able to sell them both in the span of the 4 day trip. In addition to the crazy timetable I had sillily set for myself to complete the task, I was also battling a wicked illness that, little did I know at the time, would get much, much worse in the weeks to follow.
With pockets bulging with ringgit, I boarded a flight in Kuala Lumpur bound for Kuwait, where I would spend a few days with family in preparation for a long road trip to Jordan. Once my brother and I arrived safely in Amman, we immediately began our Arabic classes that would last for 5 weeks. As previously mentioned, I was battling some crazy illness that by this point had severely worsened and was creating some serious concern as to whether I would complete my 5 week course or not. Thankfully, I found some excellent physicians who helped me get back to full strength within a few weeks and the latter part of our Jordan trip was really stellar.
From Jordan we hopped a taxi to the Israeli border, then bused in to the country. 3 hours and some mild 'interrogation' later, we were in the Holy City of Jerusalem. We spent a week in Israel, covering most of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and even a short trip up the coast to the historical coastal town of Akko, where we chucked ourselves off a seawall into the Mediterranean - highlight of our trip.
From Israel we headed back to Jordan to collect our things and pick up the car so we could head for Riyadh, KSA. After yet another 15 hour journey, we were back at my pad in Riyadh for a few more days of rest, only to hit the road again for Kuwait to catch our flights to Turkey, where we would spend the next 3 weeks with more studies.
Turkey is a beautiful country full of scrumptious foods and colorful people, not to mention the stunning mosques all over the cities and countryside. The military coup attempt actually happened about 2 hours after we arrived in Samsun from Istanbul. Had we booked a slightly later flight from Istanbul, we would have been stuck in the Ataturk airport for a minimum of 24 hours, likely more. We said our prayers of thanks for having bypassed that whole racquet.
We studied Islam, Ihsan, and Iman, devotional practice, devotional perfection, and faith, at what is aptly called the 'Rihla', which means Journey in Arabic. Along the way we were blessed to meet revered scholars, energetic volunteers, and interesting classmates and colleagues. The experience of the Rihla was truly one of a kind and deserves its own analysis and reflection, perhaps in a future post.
Finally, we left Turkey for Kuwait and spent the last few weeks of summer vacation enjoying the desert heat between Riyadh and Kuwait city. With the new school year vastly approaching, its nice to look back at this summer's accomplishments, challenges, struggles, and lessons with a renewed sense of purpose and gratitude for all of the incredible opportunities both past and present. Life in the Gulf region can be, at times, somewhat challenging for expatriates, but it's always nice to come back to a place that is increasingly beginning to feel more like home.
Journey to Jordan from EZ Clips on Vimeo.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)