PicturesSan Francisco
San Francisco, After a New Beginning
Three weeks after joining a new company, I visited San Francisco.
Now, a little over a month later, I want to look back on those few days. This is not meant to be a grand travel story. It is more a personal record of what it felt like to be in an unfamiliar city while beginning a new chapter in my work and life.
During my first one-on-one meeting after joining the company, she welcomed me and said she was glad I had joined. She also mentioned that I would soon have an overseas trip. The schedule came sooner than I had expected.
The flight, which took more than 13 hours, felt shorter than I thought it would.
I left on a Sunday and arrived on a Sunday. Because of the time difference, it felt strangely as if I had gained an extra day.
After landing, I got into a car with the others and headed to the hotel. The view outside the window was a little different from the San Francisco I had imagined. Older buildings, unfamiliar streets, a gray sky. I had clearly arrived in a new city, but I did not feel excited right away.
After checking in, I went up to my room. The hallway leading to the elevator was narrow, and the room felt less quieter than I expected. Maybe because it was the first space I entered after such a long flight, every small sound and every unfamiliar detail seemed to stand out more clearly.
Outside the window, I could see the rooftop of the building next door. I stood there for a while, looking at the worn concrete floor and the unpolished view beyond it.
Am I really in San Francisco?
I wondered how the others who had come on this trip were feeling at that moment.
A new company. A new role. A new city.
More than my own sense of unfamiliarity, I found myself thinking about how the people traveling with me were experiencing this time.
That may have been the moment when this trip began to feel like more than just a visit to a new city. It started to feel like the first time I was learning my new role not only with my mind, but with my whole body.
I felt a little nervous, a little dizzy, and a little out of place. Still, I was curious about what kind of memory these few days in the city would become.
I put down my luggage and walked toward the bathroom to take a shower.
I thought that once I washed off the long flight and the unfamiliarity of the day, it might finally begin to feel real that I had arrived.
Looking back now, my first day in San Francisco remains clearer in my memory not because of any grand scene, but because of the quiet air in that unfamiliar room and the view outside the window.
It was the first city I encountered after changing jobs, and the first time I truly felt the weight of a new role.
Starting with that first day, I want to slowly record the few days I spent in San Francisco.
JournalBandi
Everyday Life with Bandi
Bandi came into our home in September 2020, when the pandemic was still at its height.
Looking back, before we brought Bandi home, he must have mostly seen me wearing a mask. He probably had no way of knowing what my face really looked like, or what kind of person he was about to live with.
Before we named him Bandi, there were several other names we considered. I did not want something too common. I wanted a name that would somehow spark a good thought each time I called it. Eventually, I came to the idea of a firefly — something that gives off a small flash of light whenever you see it. That is how he became Bandi.
When I first saw him, when he was about three months old, I honestly could not tell whether he was really a Welsh Corgi. Even as I was holding him in my arms, I felt a little uncertain. If he turned out not to be a Welsh Corgi after all, what was I supposed to do?
There were a few reasons I had wanted to raise a Welsh Corgi. I liked that they were known to be friendly and affectionate. I also liked hearing that they were smart and quick to learn. The fact that they had been loved by the British royal family also made the breed feel strangely appealing. But after I started living with Bandi, those reasons quickly became less important. At some point, Bandi was no longer lovable because he was a Welsh Corgi. He was lovable simply because he was Bandi.
Bandi is also my alarm clock. People I meet sometimes ask whether it is difficult to raise a dog of his size in an apartment. The answer is yes, it is. But when I think about what Bandi gives me in return, the effort I have to make feels much smaller.
Every morning, when I hear Bandi’s particular little whining sound, I have to get up, feed him, and begin the day. Sometimes, even when he is quiet, I wake up naturally before him. For a while after we first got Bandi, I was very diligent about taking him on morning walks. These days, I have passed much of that role on to my wife.
The first place I lived with Bandi was not Seoul, but Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province. More precisely, it was somewhere near the border between Seoul and Bucheon. There was a lot of greenery there, and whenever I invited people over, they would often say, “I didn’t know there was a place like this near Seoul.”
I lived there for more than seven years, and spent five of those years with Bandi. Although it was an apartment, waking up there often felt like waking up at a campsite or somewhere in the countryside. The air carried the scent of the forest from the hill behind us, and because there were not many tall buildings, the sky felt open. It was a wonderful place to live with Bandi.
Now Bandi and I live near the Han River in Seoul. Whenever I have time, I can take him out to the grass by the river, but it is hard to let him run freely. I do not get to see him sprint around as much as I used to, but at least I can give him soft ground to walk on and a chance to meet many different friends.
Bandi is now entering middle age in human years. In a way, he and I are going through a similar season of life. That means I need to pay more attention to his health. Recently, he gained quite a bit of weight, so we cut his meals by about half. Thankfully, he has slowly started to lose some weight.
Last night, my wife and I ordered delivery food for the first time in a while and sat on the sofa to eat. Bandi came over and settled near my feet. Then he looked up at me with that particular gaze of his. In the end, I had no choice but to give him nearly three times more treats than usual.
Bandi is very good at expressing himself without barking. Sometimes I think that a strong silence can also be a very effective communication strategy.
When I was young, having a dog was not allowed in my home. So living with a dog someday became one of the small items on my bucket list. Now, it has become an ordinary fragment of everyday life.
And perhaps that is exactly what makes it so precious.
