Just for this Moment

One time …. I got this email that said that people come into your life only for a season. At the time, I didn’t give it much weight. I always felt that I WAS that person going into everyone else’s life just for a season. I was always the one to leave. I left my family and friends in Hawaii. I left my friends in Cleveland, and then I did it again and left my friends in Atlanta ultimately landing in New York.

I always said that every single person should spend at least 1 year of their life living in New York City. It is the most exciting place in the world, and at the same time the loneliest place on earth. It’s so hard to meet people here for any type of lasting relationships. Living in New York is also the greatest learning experience you will ever have in your life. I have been here for 5 years now, and am still living and learning.

A few weeks ago, someone came into my life and made such an impression on me that I have been changed forever. His exciting career is now taking him away from the U.S. to another country. He is the person who has come into MY life only for a season. That email I had received now holds more weight than ever, and because he is leaving in 2 weeks, I am trying to make the most of my time with him—making every moment count.

A lot of my friends said to me: Why would you waste your time on someone you knew was leaving? My answer to them is that connections like these are extremely rare, and though I will probably feel like I am dead inside when he leaves, I will have learned so much from the experience. He came into my life for a season to teach me about all the things I had forgotten about; Things like love, compassion, acceptance, laughter, romance, not compromising who I am, even culture identity and self acceptance. Until I met him (I think my friend Katrina put it best while describing her own situation) everyone else was just a stand in. Maybe it’s just me who feels this way and not him. But because the connection is so amazing, I want to believe the feeling is mutual.

I won’t print his name, or his picture, or what he does for work because he asked me to protect his identity, and I am asking those of you who know or have met him, to refrain from giving away his identity when you comment, or in any way else.

I spent an afternoon outNabout with him having lunch in the east village. We wanted Japanese food and we had heard there were some amazing noodle shops in the East Village. When I was in college, I worked at a Japanese noodle shop in Waikiki as a waiter serving Japanese tourist. It was a good deal. I also studied Japanese language (reading writing and speaking—yes the characters even) for 5 years (I’m losing it now though) but the noodle shop was a great place to practice as well as to learn how to cook amazing Japanese dishes that I still use to wow my friends today.

There are a lot of these noodle shops on St. Mark’s place in the east village. We browsed several of them trying to decide. I laughed when I saw one of the shops (that was not open for the day yet) with a handwritten sign saying that the Japanese Mafia was not allowed in there. Kind of ballsy to write such a thing. Isn’t that inviting them to just target you?

We settled for Ramen at Setagaya. Ramen in Japan and the rest of Asia is a meal, not a freeze dried sponge of noodles with a salty soup packet that you microwave and eat in your college dorm room or when you are sick. Real ramen uses fresh noodles, fresh meats and vegetables and homemade broths.

Apparently Setagaya is also a well-known Ramenya (Ramen Shop) amongst Japanese tourist and Japanese locals. The place was packed, everyone speaking Japanese. It’s a tiny little shop with a large table in the middle holding about 10 people, and then a counter that runs the perimeter of the room with maybe another 20 seats. Very Japanese. They also had a TV that showed Japanese Game shows on it. The particular show we were watching coincidentally was of teams battling to see who could make the best Ramen using secret ingredients (sort of like Iron Chef Meets Top chef). Setagaya is a tiny place, but they have wait service.

We both ordered the same exact meal Gyolou Ramen- noodles with Pork shoulder and veggies in it YUM! The bowls of noodles were HUGE. I could only eat about half of it.

We also shared a seaweed salad (I actually don’t know what’s in seaweed salad-- I think it’s all fake seaweed) but it taste really good; and we shared an order of Gyoza (Pot Stickers) which were okay. Mea, Janet, and Mijin (the owners of the noodle shop I worked for in Hawaii), if you are reading this, You STILL have the best gyoza I have ever tasted.

My dining partner laughed every time the waitress brought out a dish because I was photographing them for this blog. Funny as he thought it was he started taking his own set of pictures! We were laughing so much I spilled my glass of water which traveled all along the counter and onto some Chinese girl’s jacket... sorry!! He kept laughing at me as I tried to clean up the mess with napkins. He said to me “The waitress saw the mess, and doesn't care about it, why should you?” and we laughed some more.

At 3 PM, the waitress put up the “CLOSED” sign in the window. How odd! The place was packed, why would you close? I guess to give the staff a break and to do some cleaning before the dinner rush.

I highly recommend noodles from Setagaya. I’m taking Herbelicious, Robert, and Ivan there soon, though I’m going to miss being there with my special friend.

We spent the rest of the afternoon roaming the city laughing and enjoying each other’s company. I am going to miss him very much when he leaves. He has changed my life and I hope that I have somehow changed his. I feel a very strong connection to him like I have known him all my life. I have not felt this way about anyone else since my first boyfriend-- and I chalked all those feelings up to first love. Maybe its love, maybe it isn’t. I don't know. Will I ever see him again after he leaves? I don’t know. I hope so.

To Him: If you are reading this, know that you hold a very special place in my heart. I miss you already.
________

I am trying to figure out what it is that makes this connection so special. A wise woman recently told me that if I can figure that out, even when he is gone (physically), we will always be connected--the connection will always be there.

If I can truly figure out the conncetion that we share, I can use that knowledge to connect with every single person I meet every day for the rest of my life. Maybe not as intense of a connection, but none the less, a speical connection. Can you imagine what a fabulous life you would have if you made sure that every encounter you had with someone left such a deep impression? I want to live that kind of life…..

For Real, Seriously.