Time

When I arrived in Daegu it was winter. Nothing that compared to winter at home, but nonetheless, there were no leaves on the trees and the mountains were gray. Now, it seems summer has arrived, or at least a very summery spring. Flowers have sprung up seemingly overnight, and everything is green. Today was so warm it felt more like July than April.



I sat outside during my break yesterday and took some photos as I sat in the sun. A lot of the cherry blossom petals have fallen off already, but some trees are still white with them. The bumblebees buzz among them by the dozens, and you are occasionally greeted with a whiff of their pretty smell. Such a nice contrast to the grit of city life.

Although I'm surprised at how quickly the season seems to have changed, it sometimes feels like I've been here forever; so much has happened and I feel like I've experienced so many things already. Time is something I think about almost constantly. I'm liking it here, but I still find myself counting the months ahead more than once a day. I break up the time in my mind, as though I can shrink it down somehow. Simultaneously, I am aware that in the long run a year is not that long, and I really should be enjoying every minute of this. As I start to carve out a life that feels normal, I can't help but think about my life back home in comparison. I feel like I'm living in the future, in the past through memories of home, and in two places at once.



I asked one of my Korean friends recently, when her birth date was. She didn't answer immediately, and so at first I thought maybe she hadn't understood my question. Then she hesitantly said it was May 13. Her boyfriend realized what we were talking about then and jumped in, correcting her by saying it was in fact June 25th. I thought this was a little odd and wondered if perhaps my friend was in somewhat of a bad relationship...afterall, she knows her own birth date, right? I let them bicker about it for a few seconds. It was a little awkward. Then, becoming aware of my confusion at the situation, they explained the discrepancy. Apparently, because my friend is Buddhist, her date of birth according to the Buddhist calendar is May 13th. However, according to our calendar it is June 25th (I may have this backward). There is something called Shadow Time, which is responsible for this difference in the two calendars. I haven't had much luck find information about it, so I'll have to ask my friend about it again.



My goal at the moment is to try and stop looking forward so much, and to stop looking back over my shoulder, to be more in the present. I've decided to take a Korean language course, and today I bought some canvases and paint; it's nice to focus on the smaller things.