When I was living in the US, I once backpacked through Europe during my vacation. At the time, I was living in San Francisco, and I went to Toronto to see a friend before heading straight to London from there. After taking the Eurostar from London to Paris, I flew to Berlin. It was about two weeks since I had left home, and halfway through the journey, I was utterly exhausted. Damn, European summers were scorching hot. Plus, I wasn’t really into traveling. My only preparations were booking transport and accommodation; I hadn’t even bothered with a detailed itinerary. Luckily, I had an old friend in Germany, and as soon as I arrived, I gave her a call.
“Can you jot this down?”
She told me to note down a bus route.
“Tomorrow morning, catch this bus next to your hotel. Don’t fall asleep on the bus, just look out the window, and if you see something cool, hop off. After exploring, just hop back on.”
The bus would take me across Berlin, passing all the famous spots.
“Enjoy your day trip, and in the evening, we’ll have dinner while watching a football game together.”
I’m not a huge fan of football, but the plan sounded awesome. Best of all, I didn’t have to search and plan my route.
When I stepped out of the hotel in the morning, it was insanely hot.
Perhaps because I left a bit late, the area around the hotel was pretty quiet. Or maybe it’s just a quiet area. I waited at the stop next to the hotel as my friend had advised. After about fifteen minutes, a bus slowly approached from the back of the hotel. There were hardly any passengers. I took a seat at the back, gazing at the slowly changing scenery outside. My friend said to get off if I saw something interesting. After a short ride, I saw a fairly large white building and impulsively hit the stop button.
It would’ve been great if it were a historical site or museum, but it turned out to be the national parliament building next to the Spree River. I’ve never even been to the National Assembly in Seoul. Disappointed, I started walking back towards the bus stop, and saw a large park across the street. I slowly ventured into the park. Time felt as abundant as grains of sand on a beach.
The outer areas of the park were bustling with tourists, but near the Soviet War Memorial statue, it was as quiet as the deep sea. Some people were lying on the vibrant green grass that looked freshly painted, and I settled down nearby. Having grown up with signs saying ‘Keep off the grass,’ I always felt guilty stepping on it. As I sat down and touched the ground, the grass was still cold with the morning dew. Brushing my hand over it felt like running fingers through damp hair. So this is the joy of sitting on grass. I thought of lying down like the others, and as I looked around, I noticed the grass was covered with clover leaves.
It must’ve been during a college trip. As we walked across a grassy field near the retreat, a junior noticed a bunch of clover leaves, crouched down, and quickly found a four-leaf clover. It was the first time I had ever seen one. The junior handed me the four-leaf clover, and a few days later, I got my draft notice. I wouldn’t say it was an omen of bad luck, as I quite enjoyed my time in the military, but that four-leaf clover didn’t bring me any luck. But this time, it’s going to be different. Everyone knows the flower language of a four-leaf clover is ‘luck.’ That’s why I started searching for it.
There were so many clovers, like stars in a rural night sky, I thought I could easily find a few with a little searching. But even after over twenty minutes, I couldn’t find a single one. At least I wouldn’t be drafted again, but I was quite disappointed. I even had a book with me to press it into if I found one…
Slowly walking out of the park, I entered a typical Starbucks nearby and ordered an ordinary strawberry Frappuccino. I thought, if I had found a four-leaf clover, I might’ve discovered a cool local cafe instead. But as I sipped the sweet Frappuccino, my mood brightened as if by magic. Who cared about the four-leaf clover after all?
Living is like how a Frappuccino makes you forget about a four-leaf clover.
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