How are you all? I never got round to making those scones, sadly, and this time I'm just going to exalt the virtues of ramen, food and dirt, reduced sections and the gym. And really, really amazing moments that spring out at you, from nowhere.
So.... I was a total spanner today, and managed to mix up the days for an interview I have tomorrow... I went to help out at work this morning and left at two to go and grab a quick sushi lunch before I ran back to uni for my interview, which is tomorrow! Durrr. Anyway, depsite my major thickness, I did score some ramen for lunch, which is, and I'm almost ashamed to say it, the Korean version of supernoodles. But SO much better. It is, I reckon, up there on my top ten comfort foods list. So this is, yes, a supernoodle, the armpit of most food counters, but this hole-in-the-wall sushi place I go to jazzes it up with water chestnuts and spring onions, a poached egg and crab sticks. I know. I know. But still! Delicious. You've just got to try it to believe me - and it makes you feel good!! The only thing that beats the ramen feeling is a warm salty pretzel with mustard. End of.
What are your favourite comfort foods?
I also received my first organic veg bag from the shared planet group on campus! It was a lovely surprise to get so many dirt covered, earthy, wholesome looking fruits and vegetables! I have apples, oranges, and pears, leeks, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, fresh ginger (awesome!!), potential turnips (need washing to define true nature) and other lovely things! I've shared a few potatoes and carrots with a friend of mine who's slow cooking us brisket of beef for tomorrow's dinner! Very exciting.
A quick psalm to the joys of the reduced sections! ...Avocadoes, raspberries and PAIN AU CHOCOLAT! All for nice student-prices! I do love a bargain and tomorrow on top of the tonnes of fruit I must consume already I shall be wolfing down my pain au chocolat in a very non-studenty manner. Although that being said, in a photo recently taken by my work colleagues in the coffee shop's birthday party, I'm rocking a studenty look...
Now, the philosophical gratitude part.
Today, sat on the bus coming home after my ramen, I struck up a conversation with an older lady, kind and sweet. All I said was something along the lines of sitting beside someone with lots of bags. I think she wanted someone to talk to, because for the next fifteen minutes of my life I experienced one of the most honest, genuinely interested conversations of my life. What did we talk about? The weather. My city. University. The snow. An interview. She smiled at me with such open interest and she seemed to enjoy talking to a stranger so much that I wonder if maybe she needed someone to take interest in her for a church. I waved at her as I got off the bus. She wished me good luck. I don't know her name, and I doubt I ever will. But that woman made me weep and grin with gratitude for the indomitable, ever surprising human spirit. She was so genuinely interested in my life - something utterly insignificant in hers. She created the brightest moment of my day. Something about the conversation made me sit up and be thankful for all the little pleasures and surprises in everyday life. Ramen. Conversation. The first sip of tea in the morning. The untold kindness of strangers. Sunshine, even if brief. Smiles. The knowledge that comes from being serene and secure.
I'm grateful for all of this and so much more.
Thank you,
Eloise xxx
Old people are nice and surprising and interesting. Though me and sarah watched a programme last night called, "why do men watch porn?" (quality television provided by Virgin1 as always) and there was an old man who used to run a male brothel in Amsterdam. Imagine that being your grandpa? eeew. though equally surprising AND interesting.
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