Living in a place, ‘thousands’ of kilometers away from home, decades of degree Fahrenheit apart and half a day on the other side of the world, it is a feeling that does not go down so well, or may be it does but I cannot realise it. Things are different, very different from the way I see them in homeland or closer to homeland.

I always had this notion in my head, “I do not want to go to US” and I would tell it loud and clear to people. And they would ask me “why?”… I would go on and give them all reasons, whether they made sense or not, I went on… I have been fascinated by some places that are almost never on a person’s wishlist to travel. Places like Russia, China, Mongolia, Turkey, Georgia, Israel seemed more “calling” to me than the West.

Fortunate I was to travel to the magnificent and uber-cute land of Daehan Minguk, South Korea. I was there for a little under three months, and I traveled almost the whole of that little country, tasted almost all of its deliciously healthy cuisine, understood and appreciated the technology decades ahead of Indo, learnt and almost perfected the script, and totally enjoyed my first stay abroad. I maintained a good blog and filled it with a lot of photos of almost everything I saw, everyone I met and everywhere I went. People who saw it, loved it, and wondered how they never knew Korea was so wonderful!

Here I am today, on the other side of the globe… Trying to maintain a blog, busy work schedule means I cannot do this more often, trying to enjoy the cuisine, but… “________” and trying to be happy…

This is a great country. I must say so and I appreciate it when I say so. The roads are perfect, the buildings are exuberant and the cities are brilliant. Things are pretty good here, in the shops and showrooms, clothes, accessories, electronics, chocolates, drinks are cheap here and superior in quality. Water supply is almost unlimited and comes in two temperatures. Perfect. Period. Food is great! Yes, food is great. I keep going back to the tiny Korean restaurant JK Cafe on Clark in Evanston to have that great delicacy called ‘Bibimbap’ – do you remember? I keep going back to the Korean restaurant to have sushi rolls, to have kimchi, to have odeng, to have ramyeon! I keep going back for more reasons than the food. I go there to socialise. I am happy to meet and interact with the cute Korean couple that runs the restaurant. I asked them their names, ‘Handsome man’ and ‘Pretty Ooman’ (in the typical Korean accent came the reply). I was glad, and gladly wrote down my name Aditya in Korean script on my business card and handed it to them. They are more than happy to see me there almost everyday. This is not a story about the Great America, it is a story about a small Korean restaurant that I have come across right in front of my office.

I go there almost every other day and the things I love the most at their restaurant are not Bibimbap, rolls or coffee milkshake… but the love and the warmth they show and serve me with. They feel as if I am one of them. I started eating rolls out there with a certain customization. When I first went there, I told them I want california rolls, but no fish and only vegetarian ingredients. They kept asking me if “fish is ok”, “tofu is ok?”, “radish is ok” and I kept answering “yes” or “no” and at the end of it, I had a fully customised roll all for me… Since then, whenever I have been there, all I tell Hara (the Korean lady) is “Can I have a roll please” and she shouts back inside here kitchen “Adi-tta roll juseyeo” (Get him ‘Aditya Rolls’). With so much and more warmth, as I go and take my seat, her husband brings up a number of banchans (side dishes) like kimchi, yellow radish and soy sauce for me to enjoy… and makes sure that he himself comes and serves me my fully customised ‘Aditta Rolls’.

I am touched.

Last friday, I wasn’t very hungry and decided to go to JK Cafe and eat a california roll. These rolls are very delicious, very healthy, have almost zero fat and are not filling at all. So I thought, I would have them and I would be done. Given their generosity, warmth and liking for me, they would not let me eat just the rolls and within minutes of my taking a seat, my table was filled with more than the regular set of banchans.. and a sweet potato dish made in the shape of a fish… It was yummy, but by the end of my meal, I was full, more than full.

I was filled. I was filled with emotions, I was overwhelmed by their selfless attitude and care for my taste buds. Last afternoon I even got them a couple of Samosas from the local Indian restaurant in Evanston. It happened that the lady dint get any of it to taste as Mr Handsome Man loved and finished them himself. In the evening when I went there again, he told me “I loved your samosas… I have enjoyed it earlier in Indonesia with beer. Fantastic”. The smile on their faces and the smile on my face never seems to fade away. They work hard. It is perhaps the only restaurant in the Northwestern Univ area that stays open late till about 2 or 3 am every night. But the warmth with which the bells rings when I open the door and enter JK and the warmth with which Hara wishes me “Annyeong Haseyeo” and the warmth with which Handsome Man waves at me from inside the kitchen, touches me. Touches me more than anything else.

Things like these keep me going on. And on. Yes, I miss Korea to date. I miss my Korean friends, Yunseong, Daeseong, Jaejin and everyone else I met in Korea. I miss those cute girls moving around in the trains, on the streets and everywhere else. I miss those jingles the vendors used to shout at their street side bbq shops. I miss that smell of kimchi. I miss that language… I miss Korea.

But here I am in a totally different country. It is not much different from what I have seen it as in the movies, and the television. Perhaps it is much different and definitely better once you are here. Life is convenient. It is safe. It is the greatest country of the world. When I go back to India, I will tell people that my notion about this country was not completely correct. Now I am convinced about it. It was incomplete.

Everything is perfect, but the warmth was left behind in Asia…

19898.6900

Life sucks,
People suck,
Studies suck,
Mess food sucks,
Gravity sucks.

Lol.. poor joke. I only intended to magnify so many things that actually Suck! It has been a short semester.. so far.. I wish it was longer… I’ve slept so much. Ive slept more than I had ever slept in my life. I sleep and I eat. That is all I do these days. I wish I did something more fruitful.

What am I blogging about btw?

In 2007, I travelled a total of 37000 km. Now so many of you travelled to the US and back! That by itself would make so much :( So let me exclude the flying miles to and back from Korea. That leaves me with 26000 km. Now isn’t that a big number? Over twenty five thousand kilometers of domestic travel. I like it :) But the very unfortunate part of it was that I hardly visited any new city in these 26000 km. Nevermind, I predict 2008 to be a big year, and 2009 to be the year of Aditto!

And the one thing that I am still searching for in India, is a place where I can get to eat Bibimbap! Do you know what that is?

So go ahead and check it out!

May 24, 2007

#142 Seoul Trip Two: Rainy Day

or you may want to check this:

February 11, 2008

BBC News: Seoul Landmark Fire

Next Stop Wolmido:
Beautiful place along the Yellow Sea. Nice Quay~ Lots of young people come for a walk, and especially just to eat sea food. This place is famous for its sea food like Oysters, shrimps, cuttlefish, lobsters and did I mention shells? Also from Womido wharf you can get ferry to Incheon airport which is just across the creek. You can get your car ferried across too… even buses are ferried in those huge ferries! Nice place to catch some sunset, some young people, cool breeze, colourful water fountains and skirts!

This is the center of Chinatown and the building with the glass windows is a famous as the first place in Korea to prepare the Jajangmyeon: Noodles with black Chinese Soya bean sauce. (very famous Korean Chinese dish)

These fluffy Tigers were sold for real cheap… I only wish I dint have a baggage limitation !

This is Abhi, from IITK, doing his internship at KICT.This is Incheon Port. A pretty colourful sight!
Behind the port, you see the Incheon Sea Link that would connect the mainland with the Incheon Airport island by 2009. It would be amongst the longest in the world.

Yours Truly

Old people love this place because of the free-for-all gym!

Welcome to Wolmido: This particular mean machine just throws the girls around! Pretty picture for on-lookers and I wonder if its embarrassing for the girls!

This was one hell of a ride! Its gone almost 90 degree and high in the air, rotating too!

This is the same Incheon Sea Link seen form Wolmido

Wolmido Quay

“Paint my face”

Look at this ferry: It ferries not just people, but cars and even buses full of people!

Cute Korean kids “Choding” (choding: elementary school kids) in water!

Sunset by the Yellow Sea! (Incheon Airport Island in the far backdrop)

And I twisted by ankle once again :(

This horse cart was funny, cause the main power came from a diesel engine kept in the read of the cart, even the horses neighs came from a loud speaker and not from the horse itself!

Cute Korean middle school kids “Goding“