Staying alive !

16 Octobre 2015 , Rédigé par Cédric Junillon Publié dans #Tourisme, #FeelGood

So far not traveling as much as I hoped for my (almost) new job, I was truly thrilled to be sent off for Seoul, and manage to spend as long as 5 full days there.

However, things look much bleaker at the end of the working day : you’re dead tired from having spent 2-3 hours standing in the overcrowded metro, climbed a bazillion steps , tried to find your way « all suited up » through polluted and noisy areas in a country where streets have no name (litterally !), where Google Maps is useless, where the alphabet is alien and no one speaks your language.
The city has not really showed you much beauty & calm so far and you just feel like rushing home to sleep it off, but you’re still 5kms away and no idea where a metro station is.
But this is the moment to use that last bit of mental energy (just as in a last set tie-breaker) to say « NO » to another metro or taxi ride and think positive : you’re not here for long, the docks are on the way, give it a shot !

Things already look less glum when you get to the riverbanks and see the big city lights on the other side, but maaaan, that double-decker bridge looks grey, long and desolate not to mention the last 2kms left to walk after that crossing.

And, at this precise moment, the rewards for that effort just started coming out from nowhere, one after another :

colored jets of water spurt out from the top level into the river
two incredibly tacky boats with giant luminous hearts shining on their decks make their way upstream, coming to enjoy the show
speakers embedded in the bridge start blearing above my head a highly unlikely Korean version of « It’s raining men », to which I couldn't help but sing along out loud
still walking, I spot statues of lone herons staring out the horizon on a few pylons‘ feet down by the water, and wonder what kind of deranged street art this is

Icing on the cake : as I try to take a picture of one of those herons, the hitherto immobile bird finally turns its head to me, and slowly decides to fly away under my dropping jaw and amazed stare („there's so much beauty in this world“)

All of a sudden, I felt fully alive, with the heart bursting, and a smile glued on the face for the next hour !

Let’s stay on the look-out for everyday magic because it could always be lurking behind a dark corner. Let’s not be zombies (as 100% Koreans in the public transports), watching their own personal screen all the time, letting greatness pass by unnoticed !

Big hugs & kisses to all of you, have a great day and smile !

PS : and if this small chronicle wasn’t enough to make you smile, back to basics !