Today is a beautiful day. This doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. People sometimes find it strange that I can say that it’s a beautiful day or describe an amazing experience but not necessarily be generally happy with life. There is an odd perception that being happy means always being happy and vice versa. I’ve never bought it, but it’s always bothered me a little. I recently watched a TED talks video that does a pretty good job of suggesting why it is a problem (and why our concept of happiness is probably off). Daniel Kahneman distinguishes between the ‘experiencing self’ and the ‘remembering self’. This blog post is series of snapshots of what makes me happy not because of the story I can tell but because of the moments that appeal to the ‘experiencing self’.

The sun is shining today for a change and there is now wind, so there is actually a little bit of warmth. I walked at the lake earlier. The water was aqua-marine coloured when I arrived. Blue-green water rippling ever so gently against the grey walls of the lake and the grassy patches where the ducks and geese pottered.

On one side of the lake, there are various food vendors. They don’t have buildings. Instead, they arrive each day and set up their little portable cookers and their colourful umbrellas and their little plastic tables and chairs. I tend not to walk before around 11am, so by the time I get there, there are usually two or three old men sitting at at least one of the food stalls, drinking Soju or Makgeolli and snacking on snack-food sold by little old ladies. Today, when I walked past one of the food stalls, there was the most gorgeous smell of cooking. I have no idea what was cooking but it had me salivating.

I stopped because my foot was hurting and found myself sitting on a bench looking out at the skyscrapers reflected in the still water across the lake. The lack of wind meant the water looked totally still from here. The sky was blue behind the huge skyscrapers of the complex near my flat and still water reflected the buildings and the sky perfectly.

I stopped along the near side of the lake. From where I was standing, I could see the intersection of two busy roads. It was approaching mid-day and cars and trucks and buses rushed along the roads. Senior citizens in over-priced hiking outfits walked up the steps to begin their treks around the lake.  In spite of the business, it seemed peaceful. Perhaps it was all in my head, but there was a particular Friday-ish feeling to it all.

On my way home, I went down to one of the nearby take-away places that sells Western-style food. On the way there, I passed a restaurant I’ve passed many times. I clearly hadn’t paid much attention before, however. It wasn’t until today that I noticed that it does not in fact advertise itself as a ‘Japanese Restaurant’ but rather a ‘Japanesque Restaurant’.

The sun sparkled off the blue blocks in the pavement. Most of the pavement is grey and brick-like, although characteristically patterned – as everything is in Korea – but the patterns include blocks that sparkle in the sunlight.

Fried Calamari for lunch. I have somehow managed not to eat very much seafood in my time in Korea – although I’m still not sure how I’ve managed that in a country that is competing with Japan in the race to make sea-life extinct. I definitely haven’t eaten fried calamari rings. The taste and the smell made me think of the waterfront. I closed my eyes and I could picture the early spring sunlight sparkling on the harbour water and sitting on a bench at Quay Fou, eating Calamari and drinking white wine and the laughter of the friends who shared those moments with me.

Today is a beautiful day.