Caring and Happiness: An Unexpected Gift From My Lovely Spanish Friends!

Hello Again!

Hello again Steemians! First of all, I'd like to begin by thanking everyone who was patient enough to read through my first post in #introduceyourself. The post came out much longer than I thought it would be, but I do feel that I could not have introduced myself in a better way than that.

Here's a link to my first post in case you're curious: Click

Having Good Friends

I do feel that my last post was a bit intimate and serious, so today I'd like to share something that can put a smile on your face. Going back and forth from America to South Korea several times a year and often times moving from one place to another, finding real friendships that last was a bit difficult for me. Of course, there were friends from elementary school back home (in Korea) that I barely even remember hanging out with, as well as friends that I spent time with at boarding school in Saint Louis. However, I feel that most of these friends were people that were not there for me when I needed them most.

Often times it is funny how you find something valuable, so valuable and important to you, at the most unexpected time and space. The small notebook I am holding in my selfie is a hand-written, hand-drawn story book that my Spanish friends sent me in a care package during my mandatory military service in the Korean army. Believe me, my level of happiness was at an all-time low during my service (no cellphone, no computers, stuck with 400+ new cadets to train behind fences). 

The package I received contained Spanish goods (Riskeros Ninja, Monchitos, Pipas Tijuana, Apetinas, Fuet, Huesitos, Chuches, Lacasitos, Fresquitos, Donut and most importantly, Spanish Liquor called 43). What surprised me and made me feel thankful the most was this hand-written story book that I am about to share with you.

The Storybook

Note: The whole thing is too long to share, so these are only the parts where it has the story of how we met.

Here's how I met these three crazy, but fun girls:

I was sleeping in the stairs of a building, blocking their way back to their guesthouse. (They were on vacation and visiting Korea, and it was their first day) I was pretty hammered by that time of the night, and these girls woke me up and offered to go drink more at another bar. Bars in South Korea are open till the next morning, and it is pretty common to see people still drinking pass 6 am.

So, after waking me up and offering to go drink more, they decided that they want to bring out the bottle of vodka they bought from Qatar and drink it in the staircase before going out. Elena (one of my three Spanish friends, and the only one that is not Spanish-Korean) brought the bottle out, tripped over herself, hilariously fell on the stairs, and broke the bottle.

After that happened, we came out of the building. Three Korean guys walk by, and ask my new Spanish friends if they wanna come drink with them. Of course, they didn't know I was with the three girls. I came along, got them to buy a bunch of drinks for us, and got more hammered as the night passed.

I remember waking up the next day on my bed, wondering what the f**k happened last night. Luckily I had their numbers on my phone, and we basically ended up spending the whole summer hanging out together. It might seem weird that I became such close friends with them after randomly meeting at a staircase, but somehow I felt that I really connected with them and felt comfortable around them. One can never expect when to meet a good friend.

The list of stuff they included in my care package

Sera & Elena's selfie

As you could imagine, I was very touched by the fact that they took their time to prepare this care package for me. I was especially moved by the hand-drawn, hand-written story book that even included updates about their lives in cartoon (which I did not include in this post), and the story of how we met.

An Irreplaceable Friendship

We randomly became friends while we were completely inebriated, and somehow ended up nurturing a great friendship based upon care and love. I met these friends the summer of 2010, and we have been in touch ever since. Elena and Vinna even visited me at my base in South Korea every time they came back to travel around Seoul. I never really had the opportunity to properly thank my friends for this care package they sent me, but I'm using this opportunity to give them a proper thank-you.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that happiness can be found and felt simply from being cared for and from giving care to others. While Elena was here in Korea in 2010, she got in a huge motorcycle accident 3 weeks prior to returning to Spain. At the time, Vinna and Sera (the two other friends) had already returned to Spain, and I was the only person that Elena knew. Because she fractured her right arm part of her face, it was difficult for her to even make an effort to eat. I basically accompanied her and stayed at her place of stay for the whole remaining three weeks. Although there might be times of despair, unhappiness, or unfortunate events, I feel that there is always a way to retrieve your happiness and make your heart become full of love. Simply give care and love to others, and you'll get the same in return.

Their care package was such a warm and meaningful gift to me, and I remember immediately feeling much happier and full of love after receiving it.

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect everyone.

I love you all Steemians!