A Peek of the World

The sunshine shed through the wagon glass when the elevator arose above the surface. Before my eyes was the Rådhuspladsen — city hall square in Danish — which was the name of the subway station too. The city hall itself was in backlight, the sky behind it blinding. It was nine in the morning, we just entered the center part of Copenhagen. We had already spent two hours in this country, changed from the pajamas for a thirteen hours flight to proper clothes, a quick coffee in the airport, then finally a train ride to the city. But it was finally at this moment, I truly felt I arrived in Europe. The ground of the square was paved in stones, speaking foreignness and — matching my imagination — Europe.

One of the spots I chose for this trip was The Happiness Museum. The Scandinavia countries always ranked high in the world happiness index, I figured a visit to a dedicated museum about that could enlighten me on this topic. My expectation was to learn something I would not find in the day to day life in Asia. After the visit, to be honest, I felt I gain more questions rather than answers. The notion of "am I really happy? If not how would I be?" emerged. But I did realize that happiness is about many things, and I'm certain it's not about my income.

The game of life in Asia plays in different rules, though. I doubt if I ever will be able to grasp the idea of "hygge" and embody it when the society I live in does not tell the same story. In my whole life I've been told and trained to desire certain things, I can see myself still chasing those things even if I migrate to the Nordic countries. I do appreciate the idea of better work-life balance, having more time to do things other than work, etc. I would be very interested in living such a "unproductive" life, and I believe with my full heart that I would be happier in that way. But that is a luxury I can't afford.

In the happiness museum there was a room captioned "Happiness around the world", every part of it except the floor was covered with post-its. Thousands of post-its in the whole room. The gimmick is simple: you take a pen and a piece of post-it freely provided in the room, write down what happiness means to you, then post it in the room. It was both astounding and inspiring to see literally what happiness means for people around the world.

I wrote down "loved ones and hobby time". If someone notice mine I hope it made them smile.

The major part of the trip was London. We stayed at Piccadilly Circus; I believe it is the busiest area in the city. We walked in there or from there to our sightseeing destinations, and I was overwhelmed by this street every time. There were vendors with signs written in every language in the world; performers at every other crowded cross; people in nice suits talking to phone as if a million deal is on the line. Everybody was either busy making money or busy spending money. The air was filled with people's desire, almost suffocating. I figured this was the closest I've ever been to the center of the world. London welcomed me like it welcomed everyone else. Everyone who has an ambition.

I found this feeling novel. I've been to Shanghai and Tokyo — both one of the biggest cities in the world — many times, but I never felt such anxiety in there. Anxiety. Yes, when I recall this trip, it was always the first thing pops on my mind. Every second in London I was reminded with the disparity between me and the "successful people", and all the comfort they get to enjoy.

It seemed in London there were endless pleasure to pursue, and I did find many. I craved for Asian cuisine after four days into the trip — a lot faster than I thought. Fortunately there were countless options to resolve such desire. We tried Chinese and Malaysian, and if the circumstances allowed I would have gone for Thai and Vietnamese too. We also, of course, had a full English and fish and chips. I was skeptical about the baked beans, to my surprise I enjoyed it. My wife loved Fortnum and Mason so much we went there for three times. I was fascinated by the bookstore scene there that I went to more than three places too. We loved the atmosphere of Marylebone and Notting Hill. We were impressed by the scale of Holland Park. The list goes on and on.

Regardless of all the pleasure I found in London, however, I believe I would be happier living in Copenhagen. London’s prosperity giveth and London’s prosperity taketh, and even I long for that illusion, deep in the bottom of my heart I know I don’t have what it takes to live that life.

Visiting London after Copenhagen probably made it worse. I didn’t notice it in Denmark, but even at Indre by — the heart of the City of Copenhagen, the pace of everything was way slower. While also being the city I visited for the first time, I had more time and space to collect myself. I was a mere traveler, but I felt I could find my little place in there.

One of the highlights of our trip was in the Scottish wear shop Stumper & Fielding in Notting Hill. My wife and I both found the cloth we fell in love with the second we saw them. I had been hoping for finding a nice Scottish wear for my wardrobe since before the flight, so to have that wish fulfilled was delighting; but the greatest part of this was meeting and having a conversation with the owner.

"You just made our day." I said. He just gave us a big price off because "you guys are lovely," then gave us another gift after we told him this was our honeymoon. It was a white fabric with the shop's brand logo on it, simple and elegant. We could already see that decorated in our house as a tapestry.

"Then I'm happy," he responded, "because travel, is all about experience."

Indeed it is. I believe every time I see the Scottish high neck knit in the future, the memory of this conversation will emerge. His warmth and hospitality made this from a good purchase into an unforgettable experience.

We went to a pub the other day. The man sat next to us cheered to us, and it developed into a story we tell every time we talked about this trip. We had a conversation about where we are from, what we do, likewise for him, basic stuff for strangers. Turned out he was a top athlete in his field. I checked after and found out he even has his own wikipedia page.

That alone would have been a fun experience. But then his brother (also a top athlete with a wikipedia page) joined; apparently they were going to have sushi together and the pub was where they were meeting at. We talked about travel in Europe, fry ups, and how to do a Welsh chugging. Of course we had to do one, which is the first chugging ever in my whole life. He finished a pint in TWO bloody seconds; I barely drank one forth in the same time. It was fun in that particular moment, but I will never do it again. Another unforgettable experience nonetheless.

The last day before the flight home, we took a walk in Leicester Square and wondered into Cecil Court. Oh boy, I wish I knew this place earlier. Antiques, arts, maps, books, every store was in the way that would catch my attention in the first glance: old but full of story; small but full of possibilities. I could spend all day in that short street.

My favorite place in Cecil Court was Watkins Books: a bookstore specialized in spirituality, religion, occult, and many more similar topics. Since there are always several game ideas in my mind that set in a fantasy world, I've been looking for research materials for related fields every time I saw a bookstore. But I have never imagined to find such a gold mine even in my wildest dream. It was breathtaking, the scale of knowledge I've been seeking for it contained.

I've always wanted to know more about witchcraft and demonology. There were a couple of books that had my interest in Japan. In Watkins Books they had A WHOLE SHELF for each topic! I couldn't stop thinking about all the knowledge I get to acquire; that is, if I had enough money, space and time.

Such thing was impossible for this trip. Like a kid can not eat all the candies in a candy store, there was no way could I buy or read all of the books. If I want to utilize this bookstore to satisfy my appetite, I need to live and study there like an international student. Live abroad to study and research for interested topics! What a lovely idea, I thought. At the same time, I knew it was not feasible in anyway imaginable.

Everything unfolded before me in this trip was novel and fascinating. On one side this nine-days trip really scratched the itch of the five-years blank of international travel: I devoured dozens of Western city walk videos as Nicotine patches before; I went home with no regret at all. On the other side, the image of living in Europe or America, even for a short period, became more clear after the trip: there are experiences or resources hard to obtain in Japan and I long for some of them. I know this notion would be lingering on my mind until it is resolved.

I took a peek of this big world, and from the slim gap I see so much more out there. I'll be hearing their calling everyday.