Lotus

Lotus

By Taeyeon Hwang

Copyright © 2018 by Taeyeon Hwang

All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Endnotes

Chapter 1

[The Ego as Individual on Earth]

Faraway times, before the curtains of darkness drape, a baby was given birth in the country which had been severely devastated. The baby’s name was Lotus named after lotus that technically means in Greek mythology a plant whose fruit gets people into a trance even though they are in any pit of despair.

Lotus had his grandfather, whom he took after, by the name of Flamingo who had been a prodigy, but become a mere middle-school English teacher who ended in trying writing, which let him know that he had tried to get in contact with the new world, the future. Observant Lotus who ironically had the lack of observation in his early days had talents for everything, but the more he learnt, the more he questioned about what he had been taught especially after he went to college. There are a lot of assumptions in the name of higher education. And there’re no rationales on the modern studies where no one can explain every step of his or her major study that falls under so many categories in the ivory tower that was just facilitating the sharing of resources. To solve this problem, the more edified criteria by people must be shed new light on every science.

They were deceived into the unwavering belief that they could begin from the bottom of the ladder, climbing up the social echelons. His life had been just like that until 31, but by the time that he realized he’s on the hamster wheel which can provide lotuses, things became worse than ever. The more he ran on the hamster wheel, the more his life became miserable. The truth began to dawn upon him.

There’s the only hackneyed politics to survive, using the geopolitical advantage in his native land. So children had grown deft but daft, and daft adults had grown painful. If there’re not those basic questions in their mind, they need to grow up more even if they are grown-up.

All false adulation made him half-witted, his country’s adulterating American economic systems made him witless, and all unreasonable social brainwashing made him simian.

Money has become power. For that matter, it’s true. It also produces the innumerable fatalities in the name of the written law which can also protect the rich. Wherefore is the malfunctioning society affected by the mere means, money, which must be a malignant cancer and abstract concepts?

He saw fit to escape his seemingly peaceful country which had been actually full of lies, deceits and brutal things, ironically which have made his life vapid rather than stimulating or challenging. There’s the unreasonable non-organic thing that makes people under control like politics, religions, cultures.

‘If it comes to that, I’ll prove that all the apes are wrong.’ He decided to fully prove the fact.

However, there was no way for him to put a stop to this simply terrible wheel without making himself tainted to get out. He made so an unforeseen accident that his father couldn’t cover him. He at long last broke the shell of this system, and started going towards the wide world.

All of a sudden, the world had been changing rapidly to the opposite. Yes! From then on, it was fluctuating faster than the world could imagine. Now the cataclysm in his life begins.

✽✽✽

Chapter 2

[Step forward to the world]

Lotus was taking a brief stop-over at the airport in Amsterdam after a near one-day flight. Suddenly an immigration officer in a field office called him for whom this is the first step overseas. He had to just wait out. When searched all luggage, he seemed to find something suspicious.

Where are you going? - Pardon me?

What’s your destination? - I came to look around Sweden."

You got any reservations there in Sweden? - Nah, is there any need to make reservations in the slow season. You see? I’m just travelling[traveling] in the off-season.

At least, perhaps[maybe] you’ve got a plan about what to do, routes, and preparation. Am I right?

- Damnation, all ears, OK[okay]? As you see, it’s my first time out of my country, and I’m impulsive and... as he had been speaking at great length, the Netherlander seemed uncomfortable and got his countrywoman living in Holland on the telephone.

After their conversation, the man on the staff had several talks with her for a few minutes and the immigration officer said to him, You may go now. - I’m frightfully sorry for being rude. And thanks for not grilling me harshly.

OK[Okay].

‘What the heck firing away it is!’ He took a deep breath to relax.

While waiting at the airport, he’s just window-shopping to spend time.

Coming to the gate for Sweden, he saw a pack of the young Swedes like the storybook charmers waiting in the tail end of a queue [line] who were noticeably beautiful enough to take his breath away, and his heart was pounding crazily.

In the long run, he got on board which was middle-sized, and the seat was too tight.

Because it was the evening that he flew to Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden, and the heart was beating hard with excitement.

On the aeroplane[plane], the aircrew did the pre-flight safety demonstration in plain English with their gestures in case passengers might get in trouble. As he’s at ease, about to fall asleep, then a black Arabian sat right next to him. He unconsciously, instantly grabbed his own wallet in his jacket on the alert, inasmuch as his wallet had the whole money. He had no credit card at that time.

Meanwhile, the Arab tried to smile him into peace of mind as if he knew the Asian boy, Lotus for long, but it made him more uncomfortable.

Above airstrip covered with bad fogs, landed down the aeroplane[plane] with a series of small bumps, and then it was taxiing along the runaway.

Running the gamut of all the imagination that what airport immigration would be at Arlanda Airport, Stockholm, but there was no officers, few people in that place where some tumbleweed could pass by. After he collected his loads on the carousel in the baggage reclaim[claim] at the airport, he walked through doors dragging his luggage by hand, as was actually manacles on his feet, with a backpack on the back. The small padlock on the rucksack, and lock on the luggage seemed futile, just prevented zippers from opening themselves to drop his stuff.

At the moment, a gang of fine-looking youths who he had seen in Amsterdam airport were walking by him speaking hilariously in Swedish.

By the time he got aboard, there were few people in the bus with only a few night-lights on, which made a melancholy mood. The bus driver said, 140 kronor, where to? - To the centre[center] of Stockholm. It takes about 40 minutes to get there. - Yep, thanks a lot.

Laying his eyes on the pitch-black outside, he had been contemplating his mite of figure in the windows contrary to the Old Nick who fogged up to the last bit with his dark breath.

He felt claustrophobic in this thickening darkness and calmness, whence as usual, he would feel peaceful. The airport bus was running ceaselessly and at long last came to a halt at a stop. When he looked the driver, he said, Not yet. Thanks to him, Lotus didn’t make an effort in vain.

When he got at the urban centre[center] in a few minutes, the man said, This is the high street [Main Street], good luck to you. - Good luck to you, too. He got down from the airport shuttle with his huge luggage with Bang!

It was early March when he arrived in Stockholm; it was a little windy. The wind flew amongst the buildings that didn’t have a sign of human living, which could make eerie sounds like an arid desert. Normally there’re few taxi cabs in Sweden save minicabs, but a few taxis around there in the Stockholm centre[center], which meant he could take a cab. However, he vacillated for a while because in his consideration of these busy situations, probably some youth hostels were within 100 yards.

That’s a total dilemma, whether or no [That’s a total dilemma whether or not]. He pushed on with a thundering noise his huge baggage made. A taxi driver who had glanced at him going by said, Hullo, can I give you a ride? What are you looking for? - Pride Hemsplan Youth Hostel. OK[Okay], you’re lucky, boy. I ride you there at only 80 kronor, which is at a low fare. - Deal! With this rucksack which was nearly cumbersome to him, it’s not simply expensive. Furthermore, it’s the first day of his journey so he couldn’t bring himself to wander away all night long.

When he got at the hostel, a girl behind the receptionist’s desk said, Yes? as he hesitated. She asked him what kind of room he wanted. He answered that he wanted a dormitory on account of a low cost. There’s no vacancy for a dorm in the basement right now but only a twin room on the third floor, she added, There’s no other choice. - Got it, room 303, 560 kronor including breakfast.

‘The ballpark figure is 60 euro away. Oh, boy, now I’m supposed to treat myself to all the luxurious things today regardless of my willingness.’

Basically, standard time in his country is considerable hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, which roughly means Europe. Jet lag and fatigue during the long journey made him have no choice, much less had a morsel of food after he had set foot in Sweden. ‘There will be the devil to pay? Nope! I’m the Devil who makes a dash for freedom. Much more I was going to lodge in the af Chapman which faced the sea. Live it up, Lotus!’ Well, if we know why he came there, we might think, he’s daredevil. At any rate, he would dare any danger as we call him a daredevil or a dauntless brave man. The livelong nights and days had been beginning since then.

The next day, early in the morning, he found that the desktop computer in the room didn’t have his mother tongue and it’s blocked by a password that could alter the standard configuration, so he asked a staff of the hostel where an internet café was and went along the way as she said. On the way, he met a bunch of labour[labor] who had been working in a construction site. As he showed them the address on the paper and said in plain English, one of the construction workers with overalls[dungarees] said, Whoa! For a Chinese, your English is good. - I’m not Chinese. OK[Okay], take it easy, Tiger. As you can see, a little straight down, turn right, then you will make it. - Tack så mycket.

However, it’s already closed as he arrived at that place, so he went back to his hostel having a Big Mac at 20 kronor, stepping out for the obscure places by his instinct. ‘Anyway, it’s Stockholm here, the capital city of Sweden. So leastways, I can get the useful information what I need to live here.’ Walking tall and up without any burden, he thought that for the capital of a country, it didn’t seem to be wide enough to have a lodging capacity of the world’s travellers[travelers] at once. He looked around the whole city on foot save west area whence the royal castle, the Drottningholm Palace, is situated on the island Lovön, until the late afternoon. However, there’s a trouble on his way back, he lost his bearings. By necessity, he pulled his small map out of his pocket which had been provided by the lodgings, but he couldn’t help himself find the way back. With beeping sound of traffic lights for visually impaired pedestrians all over his surroundings, he got butterflies in the stomach. Lost in the middle of the city, he met Swedes near college on the outskirts of Stockholm. He asked the Swedish where they were and how to get to the train station, but they said bluntly, Vi vet inte. Lycka till. Standing for a while, he at length figured his bearings out by the directions of the sun. In the middle of going his way singularly, he reached the Stockholm Public Library, Stadsbiblioteket, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien. He wanted to get in, but it’s closed at that time. That evening, he ate[had] a hearty dinner of grilled rump steak [sirloin] in the dining room like the hotel restaurant, for it’s too late time to go and take away[out] food except junk food and he had been eaten almost nothing. In the lobby at the back of the counter, something familiar was in sight. Yes! Smoking Booth! Just in the same way that he had seen in European airports. That’s technically a smoking room or smoking lounge, but like a telephone box [telephone booth]. It’s rather a cell in prison, and people in there seemed like canaries in an underground mine. It’s a developed system for non-smokers to be protected from second-hand smoke, but not a very pleasing for them to see smokers nearly asphyxiated in the booth. In the lounge, he found a pair of the Swedish with blue eyes, one of whom was a curvaceous girl with sandy brown hair watching TV, and the other was a gangling blond boy just sitting about[around]. He came upon them. Having a few conversation starters, he made himself familiar with them shortly.

Where do you hail from? – Luleå Luleå? Can you see the aurora borealis in your hometown?

If you want to see the aurora borealis decidedly, you must go up to Abisko. It’s a nearly northernmost village in Sweden.

Anyhow how old are you? It’s discourteous of me to ask his or her age in Sweden? The Swedes smiled at him. - Not at all. I’m 17 years old. The girl over there is at my age, he answered with a big smile, and the girl who sat in front of him turned about[around] and said hello to him, Hello, pleased to meet you. - My pleasure.

Alcohol? Um... But you’re underage. - Yes, we can drink at sixteen. We can smoke since 18 but, as under 18, we can drink less-than-average alcohol and since 18, drink all. - You mean home or public places? Absolutely positively in public places. Lotus thought, ‘What the bloody hell! Liar! Who am I kidding? It’s a private place.’

Through talking each other so long, they had become intimate, and he went out to buy some beer.

He located a 7-eleven before long. ‘Screw Northern Europe! The North America is right here,’ so thought he, skimping on beer. As he ran out of beer, he went to the corner shop [convenience store] again. But what happened to it? It was 10:00 pm by the time he reached there, but its lights went out, and the doors were closed. Apparently, it had the Seven-Eleven sign. As for the majority of Seven-Eleven in Asia, they are open 24 hours every day. However, it’s Sweden where he’s standing on his feet then. He had to head backwards. Walking about 100 feet past the hostel, he could find a shop[store], where a haggard black boy was keeping at a checkout.

Hey! - Hey! What can I do for you? - I just want to buy some ales. You have them now? And how! I’ll show you around. - What’s the asking price?

2.5 kronor, varsågod. - Could you cut it down a little bit for me?

Nej! I’m just for-hire. Forlåt!

- OK[Okay]. By the way, I think your English is jolly good. Why don’t you try to make efforts for your better life? Oh, you’re saying just like my father. That’s my affair, not yours.

All right, see you around. - Cheerio!

[Piss Stockholm]

After a long chat with them, he came to his room and took a shower, and he’s wondering about the Swedish life at night. After a shower, putting on clothes one by one, he went out to look around the Swedish capital. He didn’t even know how many miles he walked, then he could see boats and ships over the sea. He enjoyed a land breeze, seeing a white bird ducking its head into the sea water. ‘Mallard? Nope, it’s a swan. How odd it is!’ and he watched closely. Wherefore, the swan’s head that had stuck into water didn’t come up to the end. After his coming to the end of the pier, he found that it’s not real. ‘Ah, this is an elaborate dummy swan.’ And he noticed that he walked some distance from his lodging at night. As an afterthought, he was returning. After a long walk, there were security guards standing in front of a building. What’s this place? Security guards grinned at him. - Just guess. Is that a ‘nattklubb?’ Then they gave a double thumps up and fell silent.

Suddenly he’d like to urinate the moment he’s about to go back to the hostel. Uphill were portable toilets in a park, so he went there in a hurry. He put 5kr. coin in the slut of it, but it didn’t work. After one more try, he passed[made] water by the toilet inevitably. ‘Can’t I toilet myself?’ No sooner had he urinated than a patrol car came right toward him. To get out of the awkward situation, he pointed out the pay toilet out of order. There’s a breakdown on the pay toilet. Would you let me get my refund? - This isn’t working at this late night. ‘What the hell! He’s pulling my leg now.’

He had spent the insipid and desperate time in Stockholm, and finally decided to leave this capital of Sweden because it did give no hope to him.

The more he went to the underground railway [subway] station, the more the venues become busy as if there were full of gnomes.

[Stockholm Cinderella]

Lotus would go to C-centre by the Tube [subway] at 30 kronor. It seemed expensive, but it did not. Calculating real wages which come out commonplace fares, he was sure that it’s appropriate.

He asked the black clerk where to go, making believe that ‘he was a tourist in the middle of bumming around for the choice of the next journey.’ He knew already the selfish truth about each country system instinctively and felt miserable even in this developed country. ‘What the eff! The world is under control of chaos, not God or Satan. Now I’m not an illegal immigrant looking for a job, passing myself off as a political refugee or anything, but I’m the effing fake tourist.’

Then the black said, I recommend you Uppsala. It’s by far the freest, funniest, and the most dynamic city in Sweden. Take my word for it.

In fact, he’s about to go to Gothenburg directly where he wanted to live, but he changed his mind on the spot to explore the place near Stockholm, where relatively razor-thin losses can occur if he fails to live there. When he went to the main train station, he fell in with a beautiful Swedish blond girl at the train station. She seemed to feel sympathy for Lotus who was wandering and came to him. Amazingly she already knew that he was an alien to Sweden, amiably talked to him in English.

Can I be of service to you? - I’m just wondering where I could get on the train for Uppsala. Anyway how did you know if I need help? Presumably, you have the marvellous[marvelous] antenna. She giggled in a friendly mood. "You’re funny. I