Category: Uncategorized

 

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“Setting in place”

I grew up with my mom always cooking up a storm in the kitchen. The smell, the sound, and the mumbling of her voice echoing through the wall was the definition of my home. Her way of cooking was always chaotic yet organized. Every ingredient in her kitchen had purpose – a place to be.

Cooking at home grew on me over the years as it was my way of feeling closer to my family. Also, it slowly helped me put things into perspective in life – gather all the ingredients, trim the ends you don’t need, clean and polish the ones you need, use the right tools and techniques, spice things up a little, be patient, and enjoy with your loved ones. 

Now that I’m back home to take care of my mom, I get to cook a lot more and I love it! Today, I made few of her favorites – Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew) and Doenjang Guk (Soybean Paste Soup) with Banchan (Cucumber Kimchi, Dried Seaweed, Stir-fried Zucchini). Time spent in the kitchen and the smile on her face was my picture perfect.

Recipes are easy to find online depending on your liking as these dishes are traditional Korean food (http://www.maangchi.com is one of my favorites!)

 

It’s been almost 7 years since the last time I was going through my closet to figure out what to wear to go to a dance rehearsal.

Since I’ve moved back home to take care of my family, I’ve decided to take my-not-so-flexible-self back to a dance class few weeks ago (definitely a painful reminder of what years of being in a restaurant business did to my body). Feeling so out of place (and old) awkwardly standing next to fierce teenagers, I quietly placed myself in the back corner so that I could literally dance like no one is watching. Finally it was time to dance in smaller groups which means I had no where to hide so I tried standing against the wall with groups that are not being called. Then I hear “my girl in platt with short hair! – here, in the middle.” Wait! My brain cells are no longer capable of remembering the choreography!

Then the music started and I started to move out of pure joy.

Shortly after the class, I’ve had a lovely chat with the teacher and we exchanged information. Few days later, she asked if I’d be interested in performing for her project and I said “absolutely!” regretting the second after I replied thinking this is not gonna be good.

Today, I go to my first rehearsal with more excitement than doubts, more motivation than discouragement (so much glitters and rainbows happening right now!).

I don’t think that the achievements need to be glamorous or extravagant as long as they are MY picture perfect.