huwad

09/11/11

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That Eddie Vedder song, that pursuit of freedom. I could still feel how sensuous Into The Wild was- for an hour and some minutes, a trip to that soul-searching/i-wanna-be-a-backpacker phase in a life. Two lines had lingered… one is— “happiness is most real when shared.”

 

 What a delight it is to share live music. To feel a friend when she closes her eyes and sings Marley, Up Dharma, Alanis, Adele, Sitti, etc. One time, we sat next to each other in the bus. i gave her Bob Dylan Chronicles because Bob started as a delivery boy. Because he describes a city as if he is describing a mother’s body.  Ah…watching her closed her eyes and movd her fingers gently while singing her soul out made me warm inside. the first time I saw her that beautiful was when she was at her most vulnerable. she was 12 and she had curly eyelashes. The lights of the city glowed from the river. Everyone sang with the jammers. him, whose voice was just beyond glorious strummed the strings, Collective Soul.

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My student Kyoungeun and me collaborated - piano and lyrics. it’s a song about the value of small things. We helped each other on her final presentation that featured the workers (kitchen staff, housekeepers, laundry washers) in the Language institute i am working for, part-time. We finished the song at the cafeteria- where we would both position our feet on the chair. she would finger the ebonies and ivories, i’d play with some rhymes and made some erasures.we would share silence while the sink echoed the dripping water from the faucet.

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Couchsurfing has been a colorful addition in my constant craving for new stories. Through it, i have met many different people made of various charming details. Some came and went by,some are still amazingly with me. it is a reminder of both transience and keeping. mental holes have been punched because CSers whose path crossed mine, shared a piece of their heart, hands and head. This night was one of those breezy rooftop gathering with the moon and fun-loving people. We danced with French roots music, nibbled and grilled and shared beso-besos after the air went quiet and the charcoal flames were extinguished.

my student-friend, H.  we both are fueled by working with the grassroots and kids, taking long walks to see-touch-smell-feel, munching camote chips ,taking time to say whatabeautifulskythereis!  we sat beside each other while i got my head touched by warm hands, he was giggling over some foot massage because it was his first time. i was enjoying how comforting it feels— the human touch, the relief. the thought that i am sharing such moment with a new-found soul friend. “tin, these people make us relieved but they must be tired at the end of the day.”

 

 

 i know Joan who cooks so well and whose heart is one of the most delicious. Jin who does not want her photo taken. Snap who takes a lot of photos. Jaeseok who likes trying new ways of immersing with a new culture. Seokju who kisses the forehead like no other. Dayoung whose heart blooms flowers whenever she sits and gazes from the window of the moving vehicle. Some weekends are with them. Some breakfasts we share while the waves remind us that somewhere beyond the sea, one day, they will walk on autumn leaves while we sit somewhere correcting Grammar or doing the heart sign to mean saranghe.

 

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Karen, my sister, is my special travel bud. every bus ride we share is just irreplaceable. we would do insane things together in another city and spot a random beach to experience. and in some special days, she would let me listen to all the music in her player, while she takes a nap and still, look — beautiful, asleep. in a running bus, and the sugarcane fields wave us a song.

shared dreams for our younger siblings, dream of going to India, dream of beautiful strangers we have not met yet.

 

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