My mum comes in through the door, and it's dog harness on
Off out for a walk, as mums too old to run.
Back in through the door, we're both soaking wet.
A quick soap in the shower, saves a trip to the vet.
I wont shake in the 'wet room'. I'll wait till she opens the door.
And I'll sure laugh, if she slips on the wet laminated floor.
I'm all nice and warm now, but oh what to do?
Its raining outside and I do need a poo 

Michelle Clayton Garcia 2014

Bella and I enjoyed our walk this evening, even if it was raining. 
In case of fleas or ticks, Bob Martins as soon as she arrives home has done her well all these years.
After her shower, she has to shake in the hall which has laminated flooring which when wet is very slippery.
Even though she loves her walk, she hates the rain, and even though she may need 'to go' she will not venture out into the garden to do her business.... lol

Fate? Coincidence? Spirit?

How do you think fate works?
A while back I was looking for a new drama I found one that interested me, (A spirit seeing detective story (remember how I loved Masters Sun!)) however the country of origin was China, (not my beloved Korea) so I book marked it. 
This past week I decided to try and curb my obsession with Korea because I will never be able to live there. 
Tonight I opened the drama, and I'm sat here thinking... 'I don't know this Chinese dialect, s'funny, it almost sounds'.... 
"Bianca!!!! will you come and tell me which language this is in, it sounds to me like Hangul"
Note the country: It says China
It is in fact Korean.
http://www.dramacool.com/drama-detail/ghost-seeing-detective-cheo-yong

Is this the spirits trying to tell me not to give up? That I will in fact one day live in my beloved Korea?

Writers Block

Oh well it seems I have writers block, the short stories are taking a long time, about a paragraph a day. I still have a number of books nearly finished, so I may well continue with those.
My obsession with Korea also seems to be on the wane, for no particular reason. I still love the country, adore the people, but am not in such a hurry to get back there as I was when I first arrived back. However that being said, great place, great people, great food, good times, great memories.

South Korea is one of the fastest developing countries in Asia. In many ways they are far advanced beyond their western counterparts. The increase in animal welfare is a joy to behold. There are few ways Korea is behind the times, eating live fish (sushi-mi) is definitely not forward thinking. I am sure however, they will develop beyond this in the not too distant future, and as I have seen places in Britain catering to this barbaric consumption, it would appear we are going backwards, while South Korea is leaping forward.
"They eat dog in Korea, don't they?" Well yes they do, but not really in Seoul, there is only about 3 restaurants in Seoul which actually sell dog meat. Most Seoul inhabitants wont eat it, and if the western tourists would stop going there and requesting it, they'd probably stop selling it altogether in the nearer future! 
Much to the disdain of my vegan counterparts I actually do understand the consumption of dog meat. If beef is 10,000₩ and dog meat is 3000₩ when you have a family to feed you will take the cheaper option. Those who eat pig, cow, sheep, its all the same to me as eating dog.

Korean people are amazing, they are so helpful and thoughtful, polite, respectful, courteous. 
Love the country, love the people, love the music.

Words for today:
Korea 한국 han gook
love 사랑 sarang

Saranghae Han gook 

Kimchi

Since my trip to Seoul I have had a hankering for Kimchi, which I successfully acquired from a Chinese Supermarket in Birmingham yesterday, (I now know of a Korean Supermarket in Cardiff that also sells Spicy Radish).
I offered some samples to the people in work, and the Kimchi was received well by those who could get past the smell to sample the merchandise! Those who couldn't get past the smell, well... they sadly didn't get to sample the delight that is quite simply 'Spicy Cabbage' or as Bianca puts it, 'Stinky Cabbage'.
So words for today:
Hangul
Kimchi 김치
Spicy 매운 mae oon
Cabbage 양배추 yang bae choo

Inspiration comes from the most amazing things, the inspiration for this excerpt from the latest story came from a boys amazing voice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkVjIkWHqLI
Lee Hongki has an amazing voice... soft yet powerful like my daughters. I could listen to their voices forever.


 Lowrie Lee
Frey had just left Lowrie when there was a knock at the door. What had Frey forgotten now? She opened the door without thinking. “Gong-huk!” before she had chance to slam the door shut in his face he had his foot in the door. “Lowrie we are going to talk.” “The time for talking has been and gone” she said stamping on his foot. Even though it had to hurt he kept it where it was. He didn’t want to push on the door in case he knocked her over, but he needed to talk to her. He was a lot stronger than she remembered, and he managed to open the door enough to get through the gap. She grabbed her phone, “I'm calling the police!” she said. “Go on, you do know that 50% of everything you own is mine right? So that's 50% of this place.” he sat on the sofa, “and 50% of this sofa” she hadn’t long finished studying law and she couldn’t remember the particulars, she was really annoyed with herself. She tried hard to remember if there was anything about his never having resided in her home, this was what Frey had meant about being emotionally compromised. She called Frey instead. “He just burst in saying he owns 50%” she cried down the phone, “I cant remember anything” her legs suddenly gave from underneath her and she landed on the floor in a heap, “Frey” but it was Gong-Huk who scooped her up, she weakly hit out at him, and dropped her phone on the floor, “FREY” she yelled. She heard footsteps thundering along the hallway and hammering on her door, then Frey telling Armand to go get the spare key. Gong-Huk laid her on the sofa. “I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU.... GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!” she screamed at him, crying her eyes out, “GET BACK TO YOUR WHORE.... GO ON FUCK OFF AND DIE, I WISH I'D LET THE KIDNAPPERS TAKE YOU, I WISH YOU'D BEEN SHOT DEAD, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU” he pulled her into a hug and prayed she didn’t mean what she said. Just then the door burst open Frey and Armand stopped unsure what to do, Lowrie had her head buried into Gong-Huk's shoulder sobbing uncontrollably. She had reached her breaking point, Frey made his way round the sofa, Gong-Huk was crying too, just holding her, rocking her, “saranghae, saranghae ” he whispered over and over into her ear. She reached out to Frey, “take me away from this pain please” he held her but Gong-Huk wouldn’t let go and they all knew Frey couldn’t take her away from the pain. Without warning she broke free and raced for the door, grabbing her keys as she went, the lift doors closed behind her, if she drove the state she was in, she was going to kill herself or somebody else. Frey fought with the lift while Gong-Huk headed for the stairs Armand took after Gong-Huk, eventually Frey gave up with the lift and took off down the stairs after the other two. Horrified they watched as her car sped out of the underground car park and just cleared two cars at the exit. Gong-Huk's chauffeur driven car was out front, he pulled the driver from the seat and took the controls. Frey couldn’t imagine a worse person catching up to her, Armand had got their car and pulled round just after Gong-Huk. She hit the docks doing 70 and gaining, still crying. As she raced toward the end of the pier Gong-Huk prayed if she got out of this alive he'd never leave her side again. He couldn’t believe she was going to drive her car off the pier and into the river. Armand and Frey pulled in behind Gong-Huk Frey was screaming NO NO NO over and over. They watched as she hit the brakes, the car fishtailed and skidded sideways down the pier, she wasn’t going to stop in time.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Its just over a week since I 'came out', the world is still turning, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west (not that we ever get to see it through these rain clouds but still...)
Couch surfing isn't working again.
Oh and I wrote a two minute story...
Thought I'd share the whole thing

"A soul mate is a friend you make and meet on the astral plane" Michelle Garcia 2014

Gear stick into reverse, side mirror – check, rear view mirror – check, quick look over shoulder - check, all clear, gas on, clutch up slowly, release hand brake, then BANG – ARGHHHHHHHHHH. That sickening, heart stopping moment when you realise you just hit somebody with your car.

Brake on, hand brake up, deep breath and launch yourself out of the car wondering if you should have just driven off.

Welcome to Charlie's Monday morning.

She quickly ran round to the back of the car where a young Asian man lay on the ground, his twisted bike frame front under the rear of her car, the front wheel buckled, the man wincing in agony and clutching his leg.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, which was a stupid question considering the contorted look on his face. He replied in a language she didn’t understand. “Stop!” she said, she needed to get help and quickly.

“Chinese?” he looked blank for a moment as she asked the question. “Ch-i-neese” she sounded out the word, he shook his head. “Japanese?” she asked, he nodded his head vigorously.

“Ichi” she said and pointed at her watch to indicate a minute, while she dialled 999. The operator asked her a few questions which she couldn’t answer. Did the man speak English, she gathered not but asked anyway, “English?” he shook his head, and winced at the pain in his leg which was trapped under the bike which was trapped under the car. He tried to pull it out and she yelled “No!” he seemed to understand and stopped. When she had finished the call and there was an ambulance on its way, she let her first aid training come into play, she motioned to him that she would lift the bike if he could move his leg, she did this with the best sign language she could. She had considered moving the car, then envisaged his leg being dragged along with it and thought better of it.

She checked none of the metal was digging in his flesh, thankfully not, he was just pinned. She motioned she would lift, and held up three fingers and prayed he understood the 'on three' principle. “Ichi, nee, SAN!” she said and lifted the bike, the young man pulled his leg out crying out in pain in the process. Charlie yanked the bike backwards to make sure it cleared his leg, then got in her car and got the bike out from under it. The young man sat on the curb rubbing his leg which was swelling and bruising badly. It seemed so long before the sirens were heard, the boy started shaking his head and talking in Japanese. Charlie couldn’t understand a word he was saying, “You must go to the hospital” she said. He got his wallet out of his pocket, shook it and shook his head. Charlie pushed the wallet down to show he didn’t need to pay. He nodded his head to say he did, she shook her head to show that he didn’t.

Charlie sat there trying to figure out how she hadn’t seen him, she had checked all her mirrors and looked over her shoulder he hadn’t been there, he must have been bending over. She downloaded a Japanese voice translator, it wasn’t perfect but it would help.

She asked his name, he answered, 'Fukishima Hikaru', and bowed his head, she bowed back as she said 'Charlie Barnes' patting herself on the chest so he would know she meant herself. She was finally able to apologise for hitting him with the car. She suddenly remembered she was on her way into work called in and explained she wouldn’t be in. Charlie told her translator to relate to Hikaru that she would stay with him and make sure he was OK. Using the translator between them they managed to communicate that he had just been leaving the UK. He was using his bike and the train to get across Europe. He had Ireland left to do, she promised him he would get there, but first she had to make sure he was OK. He didn’t have a hotel to stay in, she told him that was OK, she had a spare room, he couldn’t ride his bike with his knee all swollen and bruised. He asked how he was going to pay the hospital bill when the ambulance arrived, she told him health care in the UK was free and if it hadn’t been she would have paid for it, as it was her fault he was in this mess.

He shook his head and managed to communicate that he had been bent over his bike sorting the chain, she probably hadn’t seen him.

Seven hours later they left the hospital and got a taxi back home, she had put the bike in the boot before she left so she helped him up the steps to the apartment building.

With the translators between them they were able to communicate pretty freely. He had a notebook and they had a way of chatting, and within twenty minutes she was making him coffee just the way he liked it. He seemed an amiable young man, and Charlie felt ever so guilty about knocking him off his bike. She would put the bike in to be fixed the following morning failing that she would buy him a new one.

She put the kettle on, she had asked him how many sugars he took, he had said ichi, one. As she went to put the sugar in his cup, it felt like her hand was knocked so there was only half the sugar left. She put the half in the cup, and put the spoon back in the bowl to get another half spoon, but as she reached the cup her hand was 'knocked'. She tried again the same thing happened. She wanted to shout out 'stop it' to whoever was knocking her hand but she didn’t want her guest to think she was a nut case. So she filled the teaspoon, it got knocked empty. A hand stilled her hand then, Hikaru said something in Japanese into the translator, “someone is trying to tell you I only take half a sugar”. She turned startled, he had a knowing smile on his face. She finished making the coffee and helped him back to the sofa. She put the cup down and got shoved till she hit the sofa face first.

“I can still say the word Exorcism pal, he wont understand that one.” she said between gritted teeth, she was shoved again, this time she was prepared.

Over the last few months she had gained a liking for Asian food and had plenty of sauces in the cupboard, a wasabe and plum fell onto the counter as she opened the door. Wasabe and plum it is then, she thought. In a few minutes she had her ingredients ready, it took only a few minutes to prepare, she had stainless steel chopsticks. It was the first time she had cooked for anyone since her daughter had left for university. It made her feel good, also to know that spirit had given her the OK to invite him into her home, he must be a good person, she wondered how he had known it was safe to come back to a strangers home like this? She asked him, and was surprised when he pulled a tarot deck from his back pack, he pulled the ace of pentacles from the deck. She reached to the drawer under the coffee table and pulled her tarot deck.

“You must ask what every day will bring, today I got the best of all cards.” she protested that today he had been hurt really badly. He laughed, his knee was bruised and swollen, in a few days it would be fine, and if she hadn’t hit him with the car, they never would have met. She blushed, it was almost as if he were chatting her up, but looking at the reality, he was about 10 or so years younger than her and totally beautiful. No he definitely wasn’t chatting her up, and she laughed to herself for her folly. She told him to help himself to food and drink, he was free to use the big computer if he needed to contact people to let them know he was all-right. She went and got a shower, it only took five minutes to wash and dry her short blonde hair. She would be asleep in less than twenty mins.

She couldn’t wait to get into bed, in recent months wherever she was going in her dreams she didn’t want to come back. Waking up was depressing, and she longed to sleep, to be wherever it was that her soul was at peace. One day she wouldn’t wake and she would stay there forever, she really longed for that day recently. She was forty and was ready to depart this world. She had done what she intended to do, watch her daughter grow into a fine young woman and send her out into the world with a sensible head on her shoulders. She felt spirit were preparing her for departure, telling her all would be well, wherever it was she flew in her dreams, she just wished she could remember his face, the one who always met her at the style and helped her over it, from this world to the plane in between this world and the next.

She guessed her body must be failing her, but she wasn’t in pain, it was just her time, and she was ready to go. She knew that one night he would help her over the style and he'd cut the thread that held her to her human shell and she would be free to spend eternity with him. If only she could remember what he looked like when she awoke.

When Charlie awoke next, she made her way into the kitchen, where Hikaru was making breakfast, his knee seemed completely healed.

“Ohio” she said and “arigato” as he put the plate down in front of her. Something was wrong, her thoughts were in English, she seemed to be speaking Japanese. She got up and made her way to the mirror, “aishteru Hikaru gomennasai ” she managed turning to look at him. She turned and looked back at the mirror, long black hair, white skin, Asian eyes, exactly the same as she had been when she had gone to bed the night before, and she went and sat back down.

“Aishteru?” Hikaru asked her.

“Hikaru, that accident you had in England last year, what happened again?” Chiyo his room mate asked him.

“The woman Charlie Barnes, she backed her car into me, pinned me against the wall, and had a heart attack at the wheel and died, why?”

“She was here a moment ago, I don’t think she realised she had died.” Chiyo explained.

“Yeah I feel a presence sometimes too, when I'm making coffee, someone knocks the sugar out of my hand, and sometimes when I'm dreaming, there’s a woman waiting for me on a fence and we go for a walk, I don’t really know what Charlie looked like, but I feel it's her.” Hikaru told her. He hoped Charlie found peace now.