Discovering magic

November 2012 was not the usual “ber” months when cold mornings will make me stay on my bed until I feel my stomach craves for food. It’s a hot and humid month in the Philippines. I cannot feel the excitement of the December vacation which is fast approaching. I need ice cold water every hour and the air-conditioning of the office needs to be in a very low temperature to prevent my sweat glands to release the water that I just drank.

The disappointment on the anticipation of the cold “ber” months did not last long. Alas! I was accepted to an international program and found myself flying to a country with four seasons. I flew going to the capital of the middle kingdom (Zhongguo de shoudu). For 25 years, all I see were rainy and sunny days, and for that month I stepped on a land where people are able to see the beauty of cherry blossoms, to smell the new and falling tree leaves, and to freeze under the falling snow. It was in Beijing where I landed.

A day after my first sight on the middle kingdom, I found myself on the foot of the majestic Great Wall of China. I wondered if an astronaut on the moon saw me in his vernacular as I jumped and ran with excitement when I climbed the only manmade object that can be seen from the moon. I ran as fast as I could as I wanted to be on the first stop of the wall. I tried to double my steps but I couldn’t even make a normal step. It felt like I’m inside a fridge ready to be frozen. I struggled to my breath as I landed on the first stop. I catch my breath not only because of the high steep but more on the reason of the majestic view from above. It made my heart stopped to beat and the clock to tick. I wished to stand there for a long time but the wind was blowing on my face so hard that pushed me to climb higher. The next thing that surprised me were the chains tracing the walls. They are “love chains” that tell stories which end with a “they live happily ever after”. Heart-shaped big and small locks trace the walls. They hold on the chains and endure the very hot and cold weather of the kingdom. I wonder if it’s really true that this belief will make an everlasting love of the couple stay forever like those locks who endure everything. From there, the place now seemed to me as a magical mountain where people’s wishes do come true.

It was white everywhere I looked and the wind blew cold. The snow didn't fall that day but the crashed ice caused by the snow on the previous week made the scenery so perfect.