Shoshin-Zazen

Today I talked with a fellow YEP (Youth Expedition Project) New Dawn participant about him being in Luang Prabang, a place where a team of us did a project in a village called Muang Kham. He told me all about the villagers who saw him in town and called him to joined them in drinking beers. I can almost visualise the old quaint town of Luang Prabang - its architecture, and its people. Food carts line up streets with litter and funny smells, and its beguiling night market filled with Karen wares and bags. I remember the village and how we managed to stay tried to live in a moment in a Laotian’s life - a hard life, if I might add.

As I now write this in my room in Stockholm, Sweden I find myself rather disconnected with the South-East Asian culture and places. I am far away from home, missing dearly local foods and delicacies. Home is in South-East Asia, a place that I can identify with straight-away.

I met a Thai student just a floor above me who just moved in. She was a student studying for her Masters in “Strategic Management” in KTH. With some anguish written all over her face, she complained about the cold - and it is only the end of summer now. I told her about Chiang Rai and it was also cold - just like this, now.

The Zen masters say a mind flows like water. My mind is just doing just that now; flowing here and there. So when I talked about Chiang Rai, I remembered my first project in an Aha village and lived in a  humble bamboo hut for two weeks. The nights could be very chilly, temperatures could drop to near zero celcius. We would always need a fire to keep our hands warm while we chat over hot tea in the evenings.

I cannot help but feel that the disconnect I feel between now in Stockholm and home in South-East Asia is largely due to simplicity of life that I came into contact with in Thailand and Laos. Rather, this “complication” does not really lie in the lifestyle but with the local people’s mindsets and thinking.

All these make too much thinking, I am going to eat my sandwich now.

Oh yes, after 2 weeks in a place so far away from home the truth is finally settling in. One year ago, I contemplated to join NOC (NUS Overseas Colleges), and had to go through interviews, and more interviews. After that long and tedious process, I took a long long flight to stockholm, arrived safetly, settled down, bought alot of groceries and visited some cemetaries and old town and started work. I didn’t feel any different, just a little self-suprised that I made it to this nordic country, and working for a company that is, well a great place to work in.

There are some things that are noteworthy:

1. No ready made breakfast in the morning.
2. Waking up to silence (and the occasional alarm clock).
3. Listening to other people’s conversation and pretend that you know what they are talking about.
4. Learn to present your country well (or rather in a good light).
5. Introducing yourself to your corridor mates one at a time.
6. Having sinus everytime I walk outside.
7. Cooking both lunch and dinner together at one shot.
8. Going to the supermarket to record prices down to compare them in another supermarket.
9. Having to plan your meals one week in advance.
10. Spam the mircowave oven with leftover food.
11. Drinking milo in the cold cold morning is a (huge) luxury.
12. Peope screaming their heads off (Lappis shout) at 10pm for no apparent reason.

All right if I think of more I will post it here. Meanwhile enjoy my homecooked pasta with alaskan pollack with assorted vegetables.

One of the amazing things about Sweden is that they manage to turn a gloomy, dull, superstitious place such as a cemetary into a public park filled with woodlands and flowers. Its listing as one of Sweden’s fourteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites just speaks volumes about its modern architecture and landscaping. Now I know even a cemetary can turn into a major tourist site and is being conserved as a treasured final resting place for the dead.

According to UNESCO,

This Stockholm cemetery was created between 1917 and 1920 by two young architects, Asplund and Lewerentz, on the site of former gravel pits overgrown with pine trees. The design blends vegetation and architectural elements, taking advantage of irregularities in the site to create a landscape that is finely adapted to its function.

In case you don’t know, Sweden has a academic institution on armed weaponry. Maybe I shall register for a bazooka course.

Dear Mom & Dad,

You should see the city of Stockholm with its greens and bees. Flowers grow in the wild and they are pretty ones at least. Bees like to go near them so we must be careful not to put our face near the flowers.Tell everyone that these flowers will go when summer ends because winter is coming and the cold wind blows. The birds.. are flying south, and I will tell you more about them later.

Your Son

“A City for all Senses” - that is what Stockholm boldly brands itself with. Though my own observations, Stockholm is truly cosmopolitan, even more than Singapore. It attracts a diverse mix of intercontinental visitors to the “capital of Scandinavia”. I arrived on the 13th of August, on a cloudy morning at Arlanda Airport and got to see what the fuss was all about.

Here’s a photo journey of what I saw for the past few days:

At the airport.

Visit to KTH Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan.

KTH Library

Metro at Universitetet, the nearest station from Lappis (Lappkärrsberget) where I stay.

Gamla Stan, was my first stop.

See the difference? Both pictures shows the same area almost 200 years apart. Quite similar!

More impressions here.