In This Green Place
Do you believe destiny? Unlike the past, now I have become strongly convinced of the concept of destiny, of being destined to meet someone. Looking back on the moment, I still feel like it has not sunk in yet. Still, I cannot believe how this incredibly wonderful thing has happened to me. I did not believe the concept of destiny was a truth, until I met this particular woman. We were meant to meet at that place long ago. We are destined to be together, and fated to love each other. I met her quite fortuitously in an unexpected place, a place far away from my homeland, very nearly on the opposite side of the Earth. I can remember the day I arrived there. As I am sitting in the van with all of my belongings, we pull up through the front gate and I get out to look at the campus around me.
It is a brightly shiny and sunny day, with such a clearly deep azure sky. The rustic and verdant nature-friendly campus is completely bathed in the dazzlingly brilliant daylight in Vermont. I find my room and unpack, and leave to explore the campus. Imbued with the blue sky, I merrily head to the school cafeteria building. On my way, I enjoy smelling the fragrant floral aroma on the soft breeze. On each side, thick and towering maple trees are looking down at me shaking their arms as if saying hello to me. A happy and agile squirrel is running about on the grass next to me, skittering up trees and down again.
I see over by the neighboring building a very tall and lanky, bare-chested man skateboarding by the front door. He is wearing a white MLB cap backwards and black loose-fitting shorts, concentrating on his skateboard tricks. Behind him there is a man wearing an olive-green cowboy hat and bottle-green easy-fitting pants playing a djembe, while a hippie style woman is playing guitar next to him. The exhilarating sounds resonate into the sky all throughout the campus. Meanwhile, some groups of students are playing lacrosse on my right in the grass. I can hear their ragged, heavy breathing sounds so vividly that I feel as if they are playing the game right next to me.
Now, I am reaching the main front door of the cafeteria. I smell freshly baked bread and a sweetened nutty smell. I open the pure white door and walk inside. I meet the other Korean student at the school who is also there with me on exchange, and she tells me there is to be a special dinner for international students. Anxiously we search the building for the place where this special dinner is to be. We go downstairs, and walk down the hall to our right. A portion of the hallway heads down to security and the cafeteria offices. Another portion goes to several empty meeting rooms. We find another stairwell and head back upstairs, and there we find a familiar face. He starts to describe how we can find it, something about upstairs. He says it's in the building but upstairs, and starts to point to the stairs we should take. As he points, he sees someone who is familiar and calls her over to us. As I look, I see her. She has blonde, curly hair that is a little wieldy. She is wearing a white shirt and shorts and sandals. She has on red glasses. When she looks over to where we are she smiles so brightly, and it is then that my eyes lock with hers. I recall seeing her before in the hallway downstairs. She is traveling with another girl, who is also blonde but very tall and skinny. When our eyes meet it feels like an ordinary moment, and yet a special one all at once. She smiles at me, yet I do not know if I am smiling back. I take a breath and manage to smile back at her. The man who was trying to help us before talks to her, and asks her if she could take us to the dinner. She agrees happily, and he introduces her.
Afterwards it is like a cloud, floating across the front entrance and lounge towards the staircase. As we walk she talks to me, asks me questions about where I am from and how long I have been on campus and if I like it. Some things I don't understand, but I smile at her and answer as best as I can. She is kind, and never stops smiling. We climb the stairs to the second floor, and she says "It is just through the door here." We walk through the doorway and only a few students are present. It started earlier and most of the food has already been eaten, but there is still some left. The four of us got some food and sat at a table. She asks me about my country, and about my interests. Her roommate asks me and the other Korean exchange student about Korean dramas, as she is very interested in them. She mentions that they have just started watching a historical drama about the first queen of Korea, and I am familiar with the drama although I have not seen it. I tell them that, and they invite both me and the other Korean exchange student to their room so that we can watch it together.
It was with that invitation that Sydney and I came to know each other and become friends, and eventually discover our love for one another. It is since this time that we have stayed together, and we strongly believe that it is our fate to meet in this green place.
No comments:
Post a Comment